Department for Transport

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Preston

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff employed at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency office in Preston were made redundant when it closed; and what the total cost was of those redundancies.

Claire Perry: When the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s local office in Preston closed, 45 members of staff volunteered to take a redundancy package. The total cost of those redundancies was £910,687.44. There were no compulsory redundancies.

M67: Fly Tipping

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the embankments of the M67 in Denton were last assessed for fly tipping.

Mr John Hayes: The slip roads and main carriageway of the M67 Motorway at Denton were last inspected on 28 February and 1 March, respectively. These inspections included an assessment of the embankments, where no evidence of fly tipping was found.

Regional Airports

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department is providing to regional airports to promote the use of such airports by commercial airlines.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Aviation Policy Framework states that the Government would be inclined to support threatened routes to London within State aid regulations. We have therefore made funds available via the Regional Air Connectivity Fund to maintain regional air access to London which is in danger of being lost, through Public Service Obligations (PSOs). Last June we announced support for a Dundee-Stansted service for two years; and in October announced a four-year funding deal a service between Newquay and London Gatwick. The Government has broadened the scope of the Regional Air Connectivity Fund to allow start-up aid for new routes from regional airports handling fewer than 5 million passengers per year, providing applications meet EU aviation State aid guidelines. Airports and airlines have submitted start-up bids, for services largely intended to commence in 2016, to my Department. We will announce a short list of routes for funding later this month, and announce final funding over the summer.

Motorways: Fly-tipping

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's policy is on the removal of fly-tipping from motorway embankments.

Mr John Hayes: The Highways Agency complies with the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This is supplemented by the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse (2006). Paragraph 5.4 defines refuse, including fly tipped waste. The Agency’s mandatory technical requirements adhere to the Code of Practice which applies a grading for refuse, and specifies standards of cleanliness and response times. Any required restoration measures take place within the required timescales, in accordance with the Code of Practice. It specifies 14 days for slip road carriageways, their hard shoulders, verges and embankments. It specifies 28 days (or as soon as is reasonably practicable) for main line carriageways, their central reserves, hard shoulders, verges and embankments.

M60: M67

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of progress on the M60/M67 interchange pinch point work.

Mr John Hayes: This scheme is now substantially complete in that all road layout changes are in place with the associated benefits for drivers now realised. Landscaping works around the junction will be undertaken later this month. During the course of the works there has been a constant assessment of progress by means of weekly collaboration and planning meetings held between the Highways Agency and its maintenance contractor’s project delivery team.

M60 and M67

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the carriageway, hard shoulder, slip roads, embankments and central reservations of the M67 and M60 will next be cleaned of litter and fly tipping.

Mr John Hayes: An inspection is currently ongoing with the condition of all areas of the motorway, including the embankments, being assessed. This assessment will apply a grading for both litter and refuse found in accordance with the Code of Practice which supplements the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and which specifies standards of cleanliness and response times. Any restoration measures are required to take place within timescales that accord with the Code of Practice. It specifies 14 days for slip road carriageways, their hard shoulders, verges and embankments. It specifies 28 days (or as soon as is reasonably practicable) for main line carriageways, their central reserves, hard shoulders, verges and embankments.

M67: Fly-tipping

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will arrange for the flytipping and litter on the embankments of the M67 in Denton to be removed.

Mr John Hayes: The recent litter inspections of the embankments did not find any fly tipping. The subsequent inspection is currently ongoing with the condition of all areas of the motorway, including the embankments, being assessed. This assessment applies a grading for both litter and refuse in accordance with a Code of Practice, which supplements the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and which specifies standards of cleanliness and response times. Any restoration measures are required to take place within timescales that accord with the Code of Practice. It specifies 14 days for slip road carriageways, their hard shoulders, verges and embankments. It specifies 28 days (or as soon as is reasonably practicable) for main line carriageways, their central reserves, hard shoulders, verges and embankments.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mr Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on proposals to connect the High Speed 2 railway line with Heathrow Airport.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: I am aware that the proposed Heathrow spur causes great concern to local residents. I would now like to make clear that we do not intend to build the spur as part of Phase 1 or 2 of the HS2 scheme. In November 2014, the Airports Commission published a high-level review of the implications of a HS2 spur on surface access to Heathrow Airport, as part of the supporting technical documents for their public consultation on the three short-listed schemes for airport expansion. This review indicated that an HS2 spur is highly unlikely to be necessary to support any expansion of Heathrow airport.

Railway Stations: Disability

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve access for people with disabilities at rural train stations.

Claire Perry: The Access for All programme has delivered 140 accessible routes at stations, with a further 78 due for completion by 2019. More than 1,100 stations have also received smaller scale access improvements and many of these have been at rural stations. Any infrastructure work carried out at stations must meet UK and EU accessibility standards.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on safety of proposed changes to EU requirements on qualification for the driving of heavy goods vehicles; and what representations he has received on this issue.

Claire Perry: Driver training and testing matters are set in European legislation, which establishes minimum competence criteria and requires periodic training. We have implemented those requirements in the UK to promote road safety; establishing robust tests and appropriate medical standards for professional lorry and bus drivers. In October 2013, the European Commission launched a review of Directive 2003/59/EC, which introduced the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (DCPC) for lorry and bus drivers. The Department responded to that review taking account of over 1,300 representations received from within the freight and passenger transport industries. Our response was published in November 2013, alongside a report summarising the industries’ views – those papers are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/effectiveness-of-driver-cpc-call-for-evidence The Commission has not yet published its response to that review. We have, though, already taken steps to address concerns about the safety of large vehicles, particularly in respect of their interaction with other road users. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is requiring that DCPC periodic training makes specific reference to considering other road users, especially those that are vulnerable.

Mental Illness

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.

Claire Perry: Since signing the Time to Change pledge on 26 February 2014, the Department has made significant steps to help reduce the stigma around mental health issues. These include: · Establishing a staff-led Time to Change Working Group;· Staff blogs describing their own personal experiences dealing with mental health issues, which have had a big impact in encouraging others to join the conversation;· Regular blog and updates of progress from Director General (and DfT’s Disability Champion);· Events on mental health included as part of the Department’s health and wellbeing week and its diversity and inclusion week;· Promoting Time to Talk Day through, for example, senior-leadership team cascades and the distribution of materials to help start more conversations about mental health;· A pilot of mental health first-aid training courses;· Promoting guidance and information on the Department’s Intranet, including the support available through our Employee Assistance Provider (EAP).· Employing a health and wellbeing coordinator tasked with removing barriers faced by people with mental health issues. The Department is also part of the Time to Change Whitehall Learning Peer Network where colleagues across Whitehall share learning and resources.

Railway Stations: Disabled

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of ensuring that all railways stations are fully accessible to disabled passengers.

Claire Perry: Many of our stations date from the Victorian era when accessibility was not considered and, although we have made no detailed assessment of the likely cost, we do not underestimate the scale of the problem. We have therefore continued with the Access for All programme and extended it to 2019. By then more than £500m will have been spent providing an accessible route at over 220 stations and smaller scale access improvements at nearly half of the UK’s stations. In addition, any infrastructure work carried out at stations must meet current UK and EU accessibility standards.

Railways: Franchises

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2015 to Question 222661, for what reason a copy of the contracted franchise payment profiles for all train operating companies until 2023 has not yet been placed in the Library; and when he now plans to place a copy of that document in the Library.

Claire Perry: This was deposited into the Commons Library in February; ref. Dep 2015-0247

Motability

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what advice is available to owners of tax exempt vehicles supplied under the Motability scheme on how to ensure that they are not penalised incorrectly for parking without payment.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Motability Scheme does not in itself provide any parking concessions. Users of the Motability Scheme may be eligible for a Blue Badge under the Blue Badge Scheme which provides a range of parking concessions for people with severe mobility problems who have difficulty using public transport. The Department for Transport does not produce advice about Motability, which is an independent charitable organisation, but does provide information both to local authorities who administer the Blue Badge Scheme, and to Blue Badge holders.

Roads: Litter

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost was to the Highways Agency of collecting litter from the verges and central reservations of (a) motorways and (b) trunk roads in England in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Mr John Hayes: The Highways Agency is responsible for picking litter on England’s motorways and a small proportion of the all-purpose trunk road network. Local authorities are responsible for picking litter on the rest of the road network. The Highways Agency’s maintenance contracts are structured so that managing agents are paid a ‘lump sum’ for a wide range of general maintenance duties. These include sweeping, cleaning and litter clearance duties. The Agency does not disaggregate its budget and spend on these types of activities - and exact litter clearance costs cannot be extracted as the activity is performed on both a routine and ad-hoc basis to meet contractual requirements and the legal requirements under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. However, mindful of this question and my own determination to see standards improve on our Strategic Road Network wherever possible, I intend to raise this matter with the Highways Agency. I want to understand better what further steps might be taken to make it easier to monitor the performance of Highways Agency contractors on environmental matters.

Railways: South East

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 6W, what the outcome was of the competition inviting bids from train operators in the South East of England to run a pilot project of flexible ticketing; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Positive expressions of interest in the trial of flexible ticketing have been received from c2c, Chiltern Railways, Stagecoach (for South West Trains), Abellio Greater Anglia and Go-Ahead Group (for Southeastern and GTR/Southern) and we are preparing responses to them. It is anticipated that the trial will develop evidence that will enable the train operators to make business decisions on the implementation of flexible smart tickets, such as carnets. We will work closely with these operators in the trial to find ways to develop products that are both commercially sustainable and are attractive to passengers.

East Coast Railway Line

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2015 to Question 225389, what representations he has received on the comparative terms of the East Coast Rewards scheme and the Virgin Stagecoach Nectar scheme.

Claire Perry: We have received no such representations regarding the comparative terms of the two schemes. I do however understand that Passenger Focus has contacted Virgin Train East Coast about this matter.

Driving: Licensing

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the length of time taken by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to review medical information provided by applicants for driver's licences.

Claire Perry: The current measure is for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to complete 90% of cases that require further medical investigations within 90 working days of receiving an application and currently over half of applications are completed within 40 days. The DVLA routinely assesses the adequacy of the Customer Service Measure through analysis of enquiries and complaints to help improve its service.

Macquarie Bank

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations his Department has received from Macquarie Bank on investment in or financing of transport and infrastructure projects since May 2010.

Claire Perry: Staff from the Department for Transport routinely meet a range of organisations from both the public and private sectors. The Department does not, as a matter of routine, collect data on the total number of meetings by staff with specific organisations. The Permanent Secretary had no meetings with representatives of Macquarie Bank since assuming the post in 2012. One Director General has had two meetings with representatives of Macquarie Bank since May 2012. Additionally, details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-transparency-data#meetings

Macquarie Bank

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings his Department has had with Macquarie Bank since May 2010; and who was present at such meetings.

Claire Perry: Staff from the Department for Transport routinely meet a range of organisations from both the public and private sectors. The Department does not, as a matter of routine, collect data on the total number of meetings by staff with specific organisations. The Permanent Secretary had no meetings with representatives of Macquarie Bank since assuming the post in 2012. One Director General has had two meetings with representatives of Macquarie Bank since May 2012. Additionally, details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-transparency-data#meetings

Home Office

Antisemitism

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of anti-Semitism on freedom of expression and association within the UK.

Lynne Featherstone: We have a long-standing tradition of freedom of expression and association in this country – and the Coalition Government is clear that people are free to gather to protest and express their views in public. However, protesters should be clear, that like all members of the public, that they are subject to the law and the right to peaceful protest does not extend to threats or other criminal behaviour. Where criminal offences are committed and individuals have demonstrated antisemitic hostility, they will face the full force of the law.We deplore all religious and racially motivated attacks. It is unacceptable for anyone to harass, intimidate, or threaten anyone in an illegal manner.

Mark Jenner

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the decision to send Mark Jenner of the Special Demonstration Squad into a covert long-term surveillance operation in the 1990s was approved by (a) officials and (b) Ministers in her Department.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Offences against Children: Oxfordshire

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of each of the recommendations relating to her Department in the report of the Serious Case Review into Child Sexual Exploitation in Oxfordshire; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: On 3 March, the Children’s Minister, Health Minister and I wrote to the chair of Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board, welcoming the publication of the Serious Case Review and outlining our response. The Government has looked carefully at recent cases of child sexual exploitation with many similarities to the accounts of abuse in Oxfordshire. Our response is set out in ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’, which we published on 3 March. We will continue to develop and deliver our responses to these serious and devastating crimes, and will consider carefully the emerging lessons from cases as they emerge.

Metropolitan Police

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers have been recruited by the Metropolitan Police Service in each year since 2010; and how many such officers are (a) of BAME origin and (b) women.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Metropolitan Police

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many administrative staff have been recruited by the Metropolitan Police Service in each year since 2010; and how many such staff are (a) of BAME origin and (b) women.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police: Pensions

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when full details of the new police pension scheme CARE 2015 were communicated to serving police officers.

Mike Penning: The 2015 Police Pension Regulations were laid before Parliament on Thursday 5 March to allow the new pension scheme for police officers to come into force on 1 April. The Home Office is publishing guidance for members of the scheme alongside this which is available at:https://www.gov.uk/police-pension-reformInformation about the principles of the reforms has been in the public domain for some time. This includes: the Reform Design Framework which was published on the Home Office Website in September 2012; an online calculator which allows officers to determine what benefits they might receive under the new arrangements; and guidance that specifies which officers qualify for transitional protection.

Terrorism: British Nationals Abroad

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many UK nationals who travelled to fight in the Iraq-Syria conflict zone have been previously (a) a subject of interest in an investigation of the intelligence agencies, (b) arrested for terrorism related offences, (c) charged with any other criminal offence and (d) convicted of any other criminal offence.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Terrorism: British Nationals Abroad

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of UK nationals who have travelled to participate in terrorist activity in (a) Iraq, (b) Syria, (c) Yemen, (d) Libya, (e) Pakistan, (f) Somalia, (g) Kenya, (h) Tanzania, (i) Nigeria and (j) another country.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of police officers in Warrington who (a) will be eligible for the new police pension scheme and (b) have received a statement of their likely benefits under that scheme.

Mike Penning: All police officers are entitled to become a member of the 2015 police pension scheme if they do not qualify to remain in the existing pension schemes under transitional protection arrangements.No such estimate has been made. The administration of the police pension schemes is a local matter for chief constables and police forces.

Terrorism: British Nationals Abroad

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of subjects of interest to investigations of the intelligence agencies who have subsequently travelled to participate in terrorist activity in (a) Iraq, (b) Syria, (c) Yemen, (d) Libya, (e) Pakistan, (f) Somalia, (g) Kenya, (h) Tanzania, (i) Nigeria and (j) another country.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Post Boxes: Christchurch

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps are being taken to detect and deter the theft of postboxes in Christchurch constituency.

Mike Penning: Action to detect and deter the theft of postboxes in Christchurch constituency is a matter for Dorset police in the first instance. Concerns about such thefts can also be raised with the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Dorset, who will want to ensure that the police are responding to the concerns and priorities of the local community.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

British Overseas Territories

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the population is of each of the UK Overseas Territories.

James Duddridge: Holding answer received on 05 March 2015



The populations for each of the UK Overseas Territories are:Anguilla: 16,318 (2010) Bermuda: 61,777 (2014) British Antarctic Territory: no permanent settled populationBritish Indian Ocean Territory: no permanent settled population.Cayman Islands: 56,700 (2012) Falkland Islands: 2,932 (2012) Gibraltar: 29,441 (2010) Montserrat: 4,922 (2011) Pitcairn, Henderson Ducie and Oeno (Commonly known as the Pitcairn Islands): 36 (2014)South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands: no permanent settled population.Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia: 9,700 (2011) Cypriot nationals and 5,800 temporary based UK Defence personnel and families.St Helena: 4000 (2009/2010) Ascension Island: No indigenous population and no right of abodeTristan da Cunha: 267 (2014) Virgin Islands (Commonly known as the British Virgin Islands): 28,054 (2010)

South Sudan

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise in UN fora the forcible recruitment of child soldiers in South Sudan.

James Duddridge: The UK has consistently raised the issue of the forcible recruitment of child soldiers in South Sudan in United Nationas (UN) fora, most recently, as part of the UN Security Council Working Group on Children in Armed Conflict. In addition, the report of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict is due to be discussed at the Human Rights Council this month. This will present a further opportunity to highlight the need for the Government of South Sudan to recommit to its action plan to end and prevent the recruitment of child soldiers, as they underlined during the roundtable on Children and Armed Conflict that I hosted at the UN General Assembly in September 2014.

Rendition

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will establish a fully independent judicial inquiry into UK involvement in rendition and torture.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to the Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) of 5 January 2015 (PQ 218898).

Northern Ireland Office

National Crime Agency

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions have taken place with the Northern Ireland Executive on the timetable for full implementation of the National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: I am in regular contact with the Justice Minister, David Ford, to discuss a range of issues including the National Crime Agency. This includes a meeting which took place on 25th February 2015.

Attorney General

Criminal Proceedings

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Attorney General, what procedures are in place for informing victims of the reasons for delays in criminal matters relevant to their case being listed for court.

Mr Robert Buckland: The joint police/Crown Prosecution Service Witness Care Units are responsible for updating victims on the progress of their case. This includes informing victims of hearing outcomes, and, in any case which cannot be listed within the usual timescales, providing them, where known, with relevant information about why the delay has occurred.The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (the Victims’ Code) sets out the services to be provided to victims of crime. Under the Victims’ Code, victims are entitled to be informed of the date, location and outcome of any criminal court hearings in the case by their Witness Care Unit or by the police where they act as a single point of contact for victims. This information must be provided within 1 working day of the Witness Care Unit receiving it from the court. Where victims are due to attend court as a witness they are entitled wherever possible, to receive an explanation from the Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor or representative if there is a delay in proceedings on the day and how long the wait is likely to be.

Prosecutions

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Attorney General, whether he has sought ministerial representations in a public interest consultation exercise under section 4(e) of the Protocol between the Attorney General and the Prosecuting Bodies with regard to any cases currently being dealt with by one of the prosecuting bodies.

Mr Robert Buckland: It is my department’s usual policy not to comment on any live cases.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Higher Education: Foreign Workers

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to attract non-EU academic staff to seek employment at universities in England and Wales.

Greg Clark: Holding answer received on 27 February 2015



UK Universities are autonomous bodies and determine their own recruitment policies.

Business

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the aggregate cost is to the public purse of designing, printing and nationwide display of the Business is Great posters; and what the objectives are of that campaign.

Matthew Hancock: Business is GREAT Britain is the single brand to be used across Government to promote the wide range of Government products and services for the UK’s 5 million small businesses. This is an important and very successful part of our long term economic plan. Ultimately, its aim is to make Britain more prosperous by supporting jobs, enterprise and growth. Posters are used as part of the Business is GREAT Britain campaign, which is managed the Department. Its aim is to increase awareness, and effect significant take up of, Government’s offerings to help small businesses grow. Posters have also been used to increase awareness of the digital opportunities of the internet to help sole traders/micro businesses to market their business online, and to promote broadband vouchers with a potential value of up to £3,000 per business to help businesses access superfast broadband available in 22 cities around the country. Posters are displayed in print/digital formats in a range of UK cities and digitally across targeted websites. Our media planning /research show poster formats continue to be very effective ways to communicate with small business audiences. Media and production costs for posters across financial years 2013/14 and 2014/15. CampaignMedia costsProduction costsBusiness is GREAT Britain 2013/14£760,000£68,000Business is GREAT Britain 2014/15£1,200,000£70,000Do More Online – 2014/15 increasing digital capability£755,000£50,000Broadband Vouchers 2014/15£714,000£45,000   The GREAT campaign has been increasingly successful. It has increased awareness of Government products and services that support small businesses by 45% since it launched in November 2013. There have been over 2 million sessions on greatbusiness.gov.uk, the website the campaign promotes, reaching over 1.6m users since the site was refreshed in July 2014.

Archer

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions his Department has had with oilfield services company Archer on the plans of that company to reduce its UK workforce by 400 people.

Matthew Hancock: While the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not had any direct discussions with Archer on their plan to reduce their UK workforce by 400 people, the appropriate bodies are taking this forward as economic development is a devolved issue: Skills Development Scotland has contacted Archer to offer support to the workforce through Scottish Government’s Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) initiative, and DWP officials are liaising with PACE counterparts on any cross-border issues.

Student Finance England

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Student Finance England's processes for approving student finance applications and transferring payments to approved applicants.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Student Finance England

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what guidance he has provided to Student Finance England on the length of time taken to (a) approve student finance applications and (b) transfer funds after approval.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Student Finance England

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure interim financial support is provided to students when approval of their applications to Student Finance England has been delayed.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Student Finance England

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which student groups he has recently met to discuss the performance of Student Finance England.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Student Finance England

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Student Finance England's complaints procedure.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Business: Government Assistance

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many businesses have been assisted by the Business Growth Service since its inception.

Matthew Hancock: The Business Growth Service has already directly assisted 2,620 businesses since it was launched on 5 December 2014, and is connecting firms to export support from UK Trade and Investment and to other support such as Innovate UK.

Trade Promotion

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many companies have received support under the High Value Opportunities scheme in each month of the 2014-15 financial year.

Matthew Hancock: We only finalise and audit the statistics at the end of the financial year.

Trade Promotion

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many companies have received support under the Overseas Business Networks Initiative in each month of the 2014-15 financial year.

Matthew Hancock: The number of companies to have received support under the Overseas Business Networks Initiative in each month of the 2014-15 financial year is shown in the table. Month – 2014/15 Financial YearNo. of companies to have received supportApril1031May1004June1461July1253August536September1203October1142November1513December730 The Overseas Business Networks Initiative (OBNI) is a change programme led by UK Trade and Investment catalysing an increased role for the private sector in delivering high quality, practical trade support to UK companies on behalf of the Government in more than 35 high potential overseas markets. OBNI works with a wide range of partners, including Chambers of Commerce and British Business Groups overseas.

Small Businesses: Advisory Services

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what programmes are administered by the Business Bank; and how many businesses received support from each such programme in each month since those programmes began.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 05 March 2015



Details of British Business Bank (BBB) programmes and the number of businesses receiving support from each programme are attached. The figures show the increasing role of BBB programmes. 



British Business Bank programmes
(Excel SpreadSheet, 13.83 KB)

Packaging

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reasons publication of the final report on the review of enforcement of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 in respect of copycat packaging has been delayed; and when he plans to publish that report.

Jo Swinson: I regret that it has not yet proved possible to publish the report. The detailed and full responses we received have led to officials making further inquiries into a number of issues. It is important that the views of interested parties are properly considered, and that we take the necessary time to do this. We will issue the report as soon as possible.

Packaging

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which organisations the Minister for (a) Intellectual Property and (b) Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs has met to discuss the review of enforcement of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 in respect of copycat packaging.

Jo Swinson: Neither my noble Friend the Minister for Intellectual Property nor I have met with any organisations to discuss this review. However, officials have met with a number of organisations which responded to our Call for Evidence on this issue including at a stakeholder event organised last year.

Packaging

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what timetable the Government has in place to provide civil injunctive powers to businesses, in respect of copycat packaging, under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Jo Swinson: No timetable has been set as no decision has been taken to provide civil injunctive powers for businesses, in respect of copycat packaging, under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. We will issue a report on this subject as soon as possible.

Manufacturing Industries: Trade Competitiveness

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what analysis he has undertaken of the reasons for the fall of drug manufacturing output in the UK since 2010; what steps he plans to take to ensure that the UK pharmaceutical industry is globally competitive; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The global pharmaceutical sector along with other industries has faced challenges in coping with the economic downturn and global squeeze on prices. Pharmaceutical global restructuring has resulted in a significant number of plant closures in Europe including in the UK due to industry-wide overcapacity in manufacturing, expiry of patents on some of the medicines manufactured in the UK and slow growth of the European pharmaceutical market over the last few years, due to budget constraints. The figures are also partly due to the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry moving from a focus on small molecules to biological products, which require different manufacturing plants and capabilities. We are working with the sector, in particular through the Medicines Manufacturing Industry Partnership, to respond to the opportunities and challenges it has identified. For example, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s Innovation office published four case studies that exemplify why the UK is a leading place to introduce new manufacturing processes. We have invested significantly in national centres such as the cell therapy and precision medicine catapults. We have also invested £55m in a Cell Therapy Manufacturing Centre, £38m in the National Biologics Manufacturing Centre and £28m in a National Formulation Centre. In addition, £13 million has been invested in 7 medicines manufacturing projects under the Regional Growth Fund, leveraging an £108m in private sector investment.   These initiatives will help us to develop advanced medicines manufacturing, which should enable us to build new industries in areas such as cell and gene therapies. The Life Sciences Strategy launched in December 2011 set the foundations for this renewal. We estimate that since then at least £3.5 billion inward investment into the UK has been secured, creating over 11,000 new jobs.   Recently, Glaxo SmithKline and Astra Zeneca have both made significant commitments to invest in manufacturing in the UK. In addition, non UK domiciled companies have recognised the opportunity of manufacturing in the UK, with Fujifilm Diosynth, opening a new manufacturing facility in October 2013 and Eisai opening its new packaging facility in November 2014.

Manufacturing Industries: Apprentices

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to increase the number of women participating in advanced manufacturing apprenticeships.

Nick Boles: The number of women starting engineering and manufacturing technologies apprenticeships has increased threefold from 1,600 in the 2009/10 academic year to 4,800 in the 2013/14 academic year.   We are committed to ensure that the STEM workforce is diverse, reflects wider society and makes use of all the talents available to it. We need to articulate to young people, especially women, the career opportunities in STEM based occupation via STEM apprenticeships.   National Apprenticeship Week, 9 – 13 March, will see a number of events across the country celebrating and promoting the benefits and opportunities offered by apprenticeships in STEM. This will complement our recent `Get in. Go far` Campaign that featured dynamic young women in apprenticeships, including engineering.

Post Offices: Rural Areas

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local post offices in rural areas remain in business.

Jo Swinson: The Government has committed nearly £2 billion since 2010 to maintain, modernise and protect a network of at least 11,500 branches, securing its long-term sustainable future. The Post Office is continuing to meet strict access criteria that see, for example, 99% of the rural population living within three miles of a Post Office outlet.   The Post Office is modernising and improving its national network, with thousands of branches benefiting from investment under the Government funded Network Transformation programme. This programme has already seen over a third of the network’s branches modernised, delivering benefits to customers such as much longer opening hours and improved branch environments. It has also seen over 3,000 branches designated as Community Branches. These branches are typically the last shop in the community where we are safeguarding service provision, many of which are in rural and remote communities. Community Branches are benefitting from access to the £20 million Government funded Community Branch Fund, which is providing investment into these socially important branches.

Offshore Industry: Conditions of Employment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues in his Department on the level of compliance amongst oil and gas (a) companies and (b) contractors operating on the UK Continental Shelf with International Labour Organisation Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise.

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) predecessor departments have made during periods of low oil prices in the last 30 years of the level of compliance amongst oil and gas (i) companies and (ii) contractors operating on the UK Continental Shelf with International Labour Organisation Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise; and if he will make a statement.

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the level of compliance amongst oil and gas (a) companies and (b) contractors operating on the UK Continental Shelf with International Labour Organisation Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise since 2005; and if he will take steps to conduct a further such assessment.

Jo Swinson: The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 sets out the legislative framework in relation to our international obligations, such as the International Labour Relations Convention 87. There is no requirement to monitor the compliance of this legislation for any particular sector or company.

Business

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to improve business access to (a) bank and (b) non-bank finance; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: The Government has taken bold and innovative steps to improve business access to bank and non-bank finance.   A key development has been the establishment of the British Business Bank (BBB) which became operationally independent in November 2014. For the first time, the UK has a permanent institution committed to correcting business finance market failures and driving innovation and competition in the markets. Similar institutions have long been a feature in the access to finance landscape in other countries.   The Bank has made significant progress not just in terms of its establishment but also by the amount of investment that it is already stimulating. Business Bank programmes are currently supporting £1.8bn of finance to over 43,000 smaller businesses, with a further £1.2bn of finance to mid-cap businesses. Over the next five years, it aims to unlock further significant bank and non-bank finance for viable smaller businesses through programmes such as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, the Start Up Loan programme, the Investment Programme and venture capital programmes.   Government is also legislating to improve business access to finance. Provisions in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill will require major banks to refer declined small business borrowers to lending platforms. This will help put borrowers in touch with alternatives to their main bank and stimulate the growth of alternative providers. Banks will also be required to share credit data on their small and medium sized business customers with other finance providers via credit reference agencies to make it easier for alternative lenders to lend.   Government is taking steps to improve the information and advice available to potential borrowers through schemes such as ‘My Business Support Tool’. This helps businesses find the support appropriate for their size and situation quickly with businesses being able to speak to, or webchat, with a helpline adviser direct using the Business Support helpline.   Government is also improving competition and choice in finance markets. For example, authorisation processes for new banks have been streamlined, and the seven day Current Account Switching Service will be extended to businesses with a turnover of up to £6.5m from the beginning of April. The British Business Bank’s Investment Programme is co-investing up to £400 million into alternative finance providers, including challenger banks and non-bank lenders such as crowd funding platforms. In addition, the Competition and Market Authority is carrying out a market investigation of SME banking, with provisional findings and a possible remedies notice (if required) expected in September.   Government is using the tax system to support the development of alternative financing. Tax changes announced in last year’s Autumn Statement, for example, will support the development of peer to peer lending and crowdfunding platforms by allowing investors to offset losses from bad loans against other peer to peer income. In addition, the government is boosting the private placement market, which provides long-term funding for business from insurance companies and other non-bank sources, by making an exemption from withholding tax for interest on private placements.   The overall business finance environment is improving. Gross bank lending to small businesses in 2014 was 24% higher than in 2013 and, according to the latest SME Finance Monitor report, 76% of applications for loans and overdrafts made within the last 18 months were successful. Gross lending to all non-financial businesses, including large companies, in 2014 was 16% higher than in 2013. Research published by Nesta in November 2014 shows that the alternative finance market is also increasing rapidly. In 2014, the market raised £1.19 billion for businesses, more than double that raised in 2013.

New Businesses

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to improve the UK's ranking in the Word Bank's Doing Business survey for (a) starting a business, (b) registering property, (c) getting electricity and (d) enforcing contracts.

Matthew Hancock: The World Bank recognises the UK as one of the best places in the world to do business. Their latest Ease of Doing Business ranking saw the UK climb to 8th. This is evidence that our economic plan is delivering a more competitive economy; we are delivering on our commitment to make Britain the best place in the world to start and grow a business.   There is clearly still more to do.   With regard to specific action on the indicators mentioned:   Starting a business: The UK already has an online company registration system that compares favourably with the best in the world. In their latest Doing Business report, the World Bank applauded the efficiency of the UK’s company registry, Companies House, in a case study. Our Employment Allowance means no business pays the first £2000 of employers NICs, helping businesses create jobs.   We have improved the tax registration system for new businesses so processing new PAYE applications takes 3 days instead of 8. We are developing a one-click registration tool that should reduce the time and procedures to register even further. Delivery for this is planned for 2017.   Registering property: The Infrastructure Bill, which received Royal Assent on 12th February this year, contains provisions to enable Land Registry to provide a single digital Local Land Charges service. This service will improve access, standardise fees and improve turnaround times for property professionals and citizens.   Getting electricity: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills, the Department for Energy and Climate Change and the energy regulator Ofgem have worked closely to improve the provision of new electricity connections. Ofgem will be implementing measures to remove barriers to competition in the connections market later this year. Increasing competition in the connections market will improve the quality of service and should help to drive down connection costs and times.  Enforcing contracts: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has been working closely with the Ministry of Justice to improve the speed in at which contract disputes are resolved. The World Bank measures the performance of the court system in London. Central London County Court is undergoing significant transformation to deliver an improved service to court users and make best use of its administrative and judicial resources. The Ministry of Justice have set up a pilot in London where the Central London County Court acts as the multi-track triage centre for London. Previously cases were managed at the individual centres around London before being sent to CLCC for final hearing. This streamlining of the case management process should reduce the length of disputes by between 30 – 90 days.

Productivity

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the increase in the UK's total factor productivity was in each of the last 15 years.

Matthew Hancock: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have published experimental estimates of Multi-Factor Productivity (MFP), which is the terminology the ONS uses for total factor productivity. This is shown in Table 1.   Table 2 displays an index of these data, showing cumulative growth in MFP over the last 15 years.   Table 1: Annual Growth Rate of Multi-Factor Productivity  Year199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013 0.962.020.871.132.711.210.271.540.58-0.94-4.620.910.39-1.81-0.53   Table 2: Multi-Factor Productivity (1998=100) Year199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013 101.0103.0103.9105.0107.7108.9109.2110.7111.3110.4105.7106.6107.0105.2104.7 Source: Multi-factor Productivity (experimental), Estimates to 2013, ONS (Jan 2015) http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-386314

Business: Government Assistance

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to simplify support offered to businesses; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: Businesses now have simpler and easier access to business advice and support as a result of steps taken by the Government.   We have brought together all Government advice and support in one place at GREATbusiness.gov.uk. The ‘My Business Support Tool’ helps businesses find the support they need quickly, and businesses can speak to or webchat with a helpline adviser direct using the Business Support helpline.   Businesses can also access our new Business Growth Service on the same website, which brings together expert advice to improve and grow in one place, including GrowthAccelerator, the Manufacturing Advisory Service, and export advice and finance.   Finally, businesses can now access local support through Growth Hubs which join up local resources.

Direct Selling

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent steps the Government has taken to reduce the amount of nuisance post.

Jo Swinson: The Government recognises that some people do find unsolicited mail to be a nuisance, which is why we have ensured that there are preference services in place for anyone who wants to stop receiving such mail.   There are currently two ‘opt out’ services run by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA): the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) will stop addressed mail and the “Your Choice” preference service will stop unaddressed mailings. More information about these services can be found on the MPS website (http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/).   Royal Mail also runs its own door-to-door ‘opt out’ service, though this will only stop those unaddressed mailings delivered by Royal Mail. More information about Royal Mail’s service can be found on its website (www.royalmail.com).   By registering with all three services, consumers can stop the vast majority of unsolicited mail being received. Registration is free. The Government also encourages the direct marketing industry to improve targeting and reduce the amount of waste involved with its campaigns.

British Business Bank

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much each Business Bank programme has awarded in each month since it began operation to date.

Matthew Hancock: The British Business Bank became operationally independent on 1 November 2014, with the overarching objective of helping ensure finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively and dynamically. Business Bank programmes work to support this objective by increasing both the demand for and the supply and diversity of finance available to smaller businesses.   All of the Business Bank’s live programmes are currently delivering finance to smaller businesses. In addition to these live programmes, the Business Bank is developing a number of new and innovative programmes in response to specific market failures that will be piloted and market tested over coming months.

Green Investment Bank

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what awards the Green Investment Bank made in each month of the last year.

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the total amount of awards made by the Green Investment Bank was in each of the last 12 months.

Matthew Hancock: A summary of all Green Investment Bank (GIB) transactions to date, broken down by financial year, is available on the GIB website at: http://www.greeninvestmentbank.com/our-investments/.   This page also contains copies of the press releases about each transaction and these provide the specific dates when those transactions were announced.

British Business Bank

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what level of awareness of finance options provided by the Business Bank was recorded in the last small business survey.

Matthew Hancock: The Department’s Small Business Survey for 2014 does not estimate the level of awareness of finance options provided by the British Business Bank.   Smaller businesses access British Business Bank funding through its range of programmes which are delivered through over 80 private sector delivery partners. This funding complements and augments the range of finance options available to smaller businesses through the market. Because of this, it is therefore more appropriate to measure smaller businesses’ awareness and understanding of their complete range of finance options rather than of just those provided by the Bank.   The British Business Bank has a strategic objective to raise smaller businesses’ awareness of the whole range of finance options available to them in the market. Its “Customer Journey” survey shows a small rise in smaller businesses’ awareness of different forms of finance. This measure is based on tracking awareness of a basket of six alternative finance products used by small businesses (awareness having increased from 36% to 43% between 2012 and 2014). The Bank is developing further metrics to assess its impact in this area.

Exports

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many businesses have received support from UKTI Support for Exports programmes in the 2014-15 financial year to date.

Matthew Hancock: Financial year figures for 2014-15 are not yet available. UKTI supported 50,060 individual businesses through all it’s trade services in the 12 months to June 2014 (the latest period available).

Students: Loans

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the total amount of student loans outstanding as of January 2015.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ordnance Survey

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, by what date he plans to conclude a framework agreement for the Ordnance Survey Government company; and if he will publish that agreement.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when a Framework Agreement for the new Ordnance Survey GovCo will be published.

Matthew Hancock: The Shareholder Framework Document setting out the relationship between Ordnance Survey operating as a Government Company and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills will be finalised by the planned transition date at the end of the financial year, and published when the Company is operational.

UK Trade and Investment

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of UKTI customers reported positively on the quality of UKTI services in the latest period for which figures are available; and what proportion of current UKTI customers report significant business benefit as the result of using UKTI's services.

Matthew Hancock: The proportion of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) customers who reported positively on the quality of UKTI services is 80% in the 12 months to June 2014 (the latest period available).   The proportion of UKTI customers who reported a significant business benefit as a result of using UKTI’s services is 71% in the 12 months to June 2014 (the latest period available).

Apprentices

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much his Department spent on (a) television, (b) print, (c) online and (d) billboard advertising mentioning the word apprenticeship in the last 12 months.

Nick Boles: I refer the hon Member to the reply I gave to the hon Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith) to question UIN 223662.

Advertising

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what amount his Department spent on (a) television, (b) print, (c) online and (d) billboard advertising in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: The information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Advertising

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what amount his Department has allocated for spending on (a) television, (b) print, (c) online and (d) billboard advertising in the next 12 months.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills marketing budgets for the financial year 2015/16 have not yet been decided.

Ordnance Survey

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what impact assessment his Department has undertaken on the conversion of Ordnance Survey into a Government-owned company.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has carried out an impact assessment regarding Ordnance Survey's change to a Government-owned company.

Matthew Hancock: Options for Ordnance Survey’s future operating model, and the impact thereof, were considered during the project and as part of the business case process. The change to a Government Company is operational in nature, and therefore legislation was not required to underpin the change. The impact on customers, partners and suppliers will be to benefit from working with an improved organisation more aligned to their commercial, technological and business needs.

Estate Agents: Greater London

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on how many complaints were made against estate agents to the Property Ombudsman in London, and in each London borough, in each year since 2010; and how many such complaints were upheld in each year.

Jo Swinson: This Department does not hold information on the number of complaints made against estate agents to the Property Ombudsman. However, the Property Ombudsman Annual Report 2013 (http://www.tpos.co.uk/downloads/reports/TPO_Annual_Report_2013.pdf ) and the 2014 Interim Report (http://www.tpos.co.uk/downloads/reports/TPO-Interim-Report-2014.pdf ) set out the number of complaints received and resolved for Letting Agents and Estate Agents.

Department for International Development

Overseas Aid

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2015 to Question 223847, what proportion of total bilateral overseas development assistance is spent in developing countries.

Justine Greening: All ODA is spent in developing countries in accordance with OECD rules.

Children: Employment

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment and analysis her Department has carried out of the effects and extent of child labour in the regions and sectors where the Department works; and how resources are allocated through its economic development strategy to address that issue.

Mr Desmond Swayne: To combat child labour, DFID believes it is essential to work to address the underlying conditions that encourage it, in particular extreme poverty. In Bangladesh, for example, DFID is working with both government and non-governmental organisations to prevent child labour and exploitation. This includes providing education and skills training to vulnerable children, removing children from harmful workplaces and supporting families so that their children do not have to drop out of school to go to work.   DFID also supports action to increase primary-level education for children from poor families and provide social protection for extremely vulnerable children and families.   Plans for programmes under the economic development strategic framework are based on assessments of need and context in the countries in which DFID works.

Department for Education

Pupils: Health

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that all people working with young people report concerns about those people's welfare to the police.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Government’s statutory guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children', is clear that anyone who has concerns about a child’s welfare should make a referral to local authority children’s social care. If there is an immediate risk to a child, a referral should also be made to the police. On 3 March 2015, the Government published ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’ which sets out how we are tackling child sexual exploitation and is available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-sexual-exploitation--2. This includes updating the statutory guidance which will reinforce what action practitioners should take if they are concerned about a child. We will also be consulting on an extension to the new ‘wilful neglect’ offence to cover children’s social care, education and elected members. This will be included in the consultation on mandatory reporting of child abuse, which we have publically committed to undertaking.

Schools: Radicalism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce the potential radicalisation of young people in school.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Department for Education has made it clear that there is no place for extremism in any school, particularly in the aftermath of the ‘Trojan Horse’ events in Birmingham and cases of young people travelling to Syria. All young people must be prepared for life in modern Britain. We are tackling this problem at both ends: taking determined action where we find areas of concern, and building resilience in the system by putting the active promotion of fundamental British values at the very heart of our plan for education. The following developments are at the cornerstone of our response: We now expect all schools to actively promote fundamental British values, which include mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Ofsted is now inspecting them on this.We are working with Ofsted on improvements to their capacity; they are training their inspectors on extremist ideology and have strengthened their inspection frameworks to include Fundamental British Values.The Counter Terrorism and Security Act, which comes into force in July, places a new statutory duty on schools, further education colleges, higher education institutions and local authorities to have due regard to the need to prevent individuals from being drawn into terrorism. We are issuing statutory guidance on this duty.We are putting in place a whistleblowing process for schools and the public to raise safeguarding concerns more easily.We have established a dedicated Due Diligence and Counter Extremism Group within the Department for Education focusing specifically on preventing extremism, with an expanding remit and capacity to proactively identify and address extremism concerns. You can find out more about the wide range of action underway in the education sector in the Secretary of State’s oral statement of 29 January reflecting on the developments in the six months since the Peter Clarke Report here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/update-on-birmingham-schools A detailed table of actions in the education sector is also available at the following link:  www.parliament.uk/depositedpapers#toggle-126 . The reference number for the table is DEP2015-0126. This is a priority for this Government, and we remain vigilant. Keeping our children safe, and ensuring our schools prepare them for life in modern, multi-cultural Britain, could not be more important.

Schools: Buildings

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2015 to Question 224093 to the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole, if she will place in the Library the education estate survey results for each of the qualifying education estate sites in Sunderland.

Mr David Laws: The Department for Education published the national findings of the Property Data Survey on the government website. We have shared the detailed initial findings from the survey with those responsible for maintaining and improving school buildings. The Department currently has no plans to publish the detailed information for individual schools.

Procurement

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the amount (a) her Department and (b) its agencies and non-departmental public bodies spent on procurement was paid to small and medium-sized enterprises (i) directly and (ii) through the supply chain in the last year for which figures are available.

Mr Nick Gibb: The Government has overhauled public procurement to open it up to businesses of all sizes. On 25 February 2015, we announced that central government spent £11.4 billion with SMEs in 2013-14, a record 26.1% of direct and indirect spend. This meets our aspiration, set in 2010, that 25% of government procurement spend would be with SMEs by the end of this Parliament.The data on central government spend with SMEs in 2013-14 is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/central-government-spend-with-smes-2013-to-2014

Billing

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of undisputed invoices her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies paid within five days in the last period for which figures are available.

Mr Nick Gibb: The Department for Education and Education Funding Agency (EFA) report this information via their Annual Report and Accounts. Both links are below:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-consolidated-annual-report-and-accounts-2013-to-2014   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/efa-annual-report-and-accounts-1-april-2013-to-31-march-2014   From the first link above, on Page 57 the core Department reports 86.2% of undisputed invoices were paid within 5 calendar days during the 2013 to 2014 financial year. The Government’s target is to pay 80% of undisputed invoices within five days. The core Department is performing above this target.   From the second link above, on Page 44 the EFA reports 33% of invoices were paid within 5 calendar days during the 2013 to 2014 financial year. The EFA does not differentiate between valid and invalid invoices. This explains the lower performance figure as the majority of invoices received did not meet the “submitted correctly requirement”. The EFA is taking action to resolve these issues and there has been significant improvement, with 50% of invoices paid within five days in the final quarter of the year.   The information requested is not available for all of our agencies and non-departmental public bodies as there is no current requirement for them to report on their prompt payment performance.

Billing

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what requirements her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies place on suppliers in respect of their payment terms to subcontractors as part of their standard terms and conditions.

Mr Nick Gibb: The Department for Education’s standard terms and conditions contain a clause requiring contractors to pay subcontractors within 10 days where the subcontractor is an SME, or 30 days either where the subcontractor is not an SME or both the contractor and the subcontractor are SMEs.

Billing

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of suppliers to her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are signatories to the Prompt Payment Code.

Mr Nick Gibb: The Department for Education does not ask suppliers if they are signatories to the Prompt Payment Code. Our standard terms and conditions contain prompt payment clauses that are equal to or better than the standard 30 day period in the Prompt Payment Code.

Billing

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of suppliers to her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies paid subcontractors within 30 days in the last period for which figures are available.

Mr Nick Gibb: An answer could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Children in Care: Missing Persons

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have gone missing from (a) residential children's homes and (b) foster care in each of the last five years.

Mr Edward Timpson: The number of children who went missing from children’s homes and foster placements in the year ending 31 March 2013 is published in the ‘Children’s Homes Data Pack’[1]. Analysis for other years has not been undertaken and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. [1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-homes-data-pack

Children: Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to outsource child safeguarding functions from local authorities; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Edward Timpson: Where a local authority is judged to be failing in its provision and delivery of children’s services, the Secretary of State has a discretionary power to intervene under the Education Act 1996, as applied by section 50 of the Children Act 2004. This may include directing the local authority to review its children’s services operations and commissioning procedures, and this may include the delivery of specified functions by another body. The powers under part 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 and associated regulations are quite different and provide for local authorities to be able to delegate children’s social care functions, including safeguarding functions, to third parties on a voluntary basis. The Department for Education has no plans to instruct any local authorities to delegate their functions under these provisions.

Mental Illness

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.

Mr Nick Gibb: Tackling mental health stigma and discrimination is vital. The Department for Education has continued to take action to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination since signing the Time to Change pledge. The Department’s staff-led Wellbeing Network was launched at the time of the signing of the pledge and has run a series of staff events to help raise awareness of mental health issues. We have also delivered a series of mental health awareness workshops for staff and managers to help equip them with the skills needed to support and work effectively with people who have mild to moderate mental health issues. We have focused on raising awareness of the resources available to staff and managers, including guidance and briefings on mental health issues, access to support through our Employee Assistance Programme and occupational health advice, and mandating Unconscious Bias training for all managers. Together with Time to Change, the Department also hosted an inaugural cross-departmental networking event to share good practice across the Civil Service on addressing mental health issues within the workplace.

Children: Day Care

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and by what percentage the cost of childcare has increased (a) in nurseries and (b) for childminders in London since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education does not collect its own data, but uses cost information from a number of independent surveys, such as the Family and Childcare Trust Annual Childcare Cost Survey 2015 which can be found online at: http://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/childcare-costs-surveys. The FCT survey measures the average market price for 25 hours of paid-for childcare and, therefore, takes no account of the 15 hours free early education and childcare that the majority of parents of young children are entitled to.   The Department has already increased funding in the early years from £2 billion to £3 billion a year over the course of this Parliament. We are the first Government to fund 15 hours a week of free childcare for all three- and four-year-olds and for disadvantaged two-year-olds. The funding for all three and four-year-olds is worth an additional £425 a year per child; and the funding for around 40% of two-year-olds, £2,500 a year per child.   We will be introducing Tax-Free Childcare from autumn 2015, under which up to 1.8 million working families could benefit by up to £2,000 per child, per year. For working parents on low and middle incomes, working tax credit pays up to 70% of their childcare costs which could be worth up to £6,370 for their first child. Under Universal Credit, the subsidy rate will increase to 85% of childcare costs and support will be available, for the first time, to those working fewer than 16 hours per week.   In relation to childcare costs in London being higher, we have invested £30 million to increase the number of childcare places available for two-year-olds and to encourage more school nurseries to open from 8am - 6pm. Linked with this, we are working with the Family and Childcare Trust, the Greater London Authority and the Local Government Association, and with the support of London Councils, on a project to help schools in London develop flexible, full-day nursery provision. The project, and the learning it generates, will increase the amount of flexible childcare available and the choices that parents have.

Children: Day Care

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children from disadvantaged backgrounds have been unable to access free entitlement to childcare for (a) two-year-olds and (b) three and four-year-olds in London in each of the last five years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education does not collect this data. However, information on take up is published annually and the latest published data is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provision-for-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2014.

GCE A-level

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to announce which A-levels will no longer be available in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mr Nick Gibb: Ofqual has already announced the A levels which will be withdrawn from September 2015. The list of subjects can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/381968/2014-12-02-completing-gcse-as-and-a-level-reform.pdf   Ofqual will announce the list of A levels that will no longer be available from September 2016 shortly.   In June 2014 Ofqual consulted on a set of proposals about how GCSE and A level subject availability should be determined from September 2017, and will announce its decisions shortly. Ofqual has been clear that any subject not reformed for first teaching in 2015 or 2016 must either be reformed for first teaching in 2017 or withdrawn.

Ministry of Justice

Contempt of Court

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter sent on 2 February 2015 to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley by HM Courts and Tribunals Services's Performance, Analysis and Reporting Team, what the (a) name of the judge, (b) date, (c) period of committal and (d) court was of each court order issued by courts in England and Wales for contempt of court since 2014.

Andrew Selous: Details of contempt of court hearings are not held on Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) case management systems, and HMCTS do not centrally collate data on contempt of court cases. Contempt of court can cover a wide variety of circumstances and can be committed by a party in a case or by someone unconnected with specific proceedings such as a juror or a member of the press. Those relating to a specific case will be noted on the court log or daily list and the warrant retained on file. Those not relating to specific cases will be recorded on daily lists and warrants stored along with other orders. In order to identify all cases where a contempt of court occurred in every Crown Court centre, County Court centre, Family Court centre, magistrates’ court and the Royal Courts of Justice, HMCTS would have to manually check daily records for each courtroom at every court centre for the 14 months from January 2014 to February 2015. This would incur disproportionate costs.

Crime: Victims

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints from victims have been received by the Courts and Probation Service in each of the last five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: This Government is committed to putting victims and witnesses first, and we are reforming our system to make it so. This includes more than doubling funding to help victims since we came to power — reaching over £92million next year (2015/16) — to make sure victims receive the best possible support. A unified administrative complaints procedure for HM Courts & Tribunals Service was launched in October 2011 which introduced a new set of categories and sub categories for recording details of complaints, including from victims. I am unable to provide data on complaints from victims before October 2011. Data extracted on 4 March 2015 shows the numbers of complaints made by victims to HM Courts & Tribunals Service:PeriodComplaints from victims to HMCTSOct 2011 to March 201264April 2012 to March 201396April 2013 to March 2014146April 2014 to February 2015147 The National Offender Management Service does not currently record information centrally in relation to the number of complaints received from victims, and has not made an estimate of this number. Systems are being developed that will record complaints at a national level.   Notes:1. Data for criminal cases disposed of in magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court are published in Criminal Courts Statistics Quarterly at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics .2. The methodology for calculating magistrates’ court receipts was changed from April 2012. Data prior to this period is not comparable.3. The latest data published is up to September 2014. Data to December 2014 will be published on 26 March 2015.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what costs may be incurred by the victim when applying for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many forms or documents need to be completed by people applying for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people (a) applied for and (b) were granted compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014.

Mike Penning: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington on 2 March 2015. This can be found on the Parliament.uk website here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-02-12/224448

Victim Support Schemes

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how state-funded organisations which support victims are regulated; and how the outcomes of the work of these organisations are monitored by his Department.

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims of crime were given support by state-funded organisations in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014.

Mike Penning: This Government is committed to putting victims and witnesses first, significantly improving services and support for victims and investing more than ever in the help they are offered. In 2012/13 the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) provided £50.26m to victim’s services and £57.02m in 2013/14. This will reach over £92 million in the next financial year (2015/16). The MoJ funds a large number of organisations, including registered charities, voluntary and community groups who each complete regular monitoring returns. It would incur disproportionate costs to consolidate each organisation’s monitoring returns for 2013 and 2014 and disclose how many victims of crime were supported.

Pre-trial Procedures

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will introduce pre-trial hearings to determine the nature of cross-examination of victims and witnesses in crown court proceedings.

Mike Penning: This Government is committed to ensuring vulnerable victims and witnesses have access to high quality, effective and timely support. The value of pre-trial ground rules is increasingly being recognised and closely links with measures that my Department is implementing to improve the experience of victims and witnesses. These include giving greater opportunity to give evidence away from the court room and, subject to evaluation of the pilot, roll-out of recorded pre-trial cross-examination. In reviewing how to reduce the distress experienced by vulnerable victims and witnesses in sexual violence cases tried in the Crown Court, we identified that the scope and use of Ground Rules Hearings could be widened. The Criminal Procedure Rule Committee has agreed amendments to the criminal procedure rules which will encourage use of ground rules to facilitate participation of witnesses (including defendants) in trials. These changes take effect from 6 April 2015. The rules will provide that directions can be given for the appropriate treatment and questioning of a witness, especially where the court directs that such questioning is to be conducted through an intermediary, and list things the court should do where directions for appropriate treatment and questioning are required.

Prisoners: Suicide

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners and what proportion of the prison population have killed themselves in each of the last 20 years.

Andrew Selous: Data on deaths in custody, including the numbers and rates of self-inflicted deaths in each of the last 20 years, is published in the Safety in Custody Statistics Bulletin, available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-in-custody-statistics.

Courts: Communication

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve communication between civil, family and criminal courts.

Mr Shailesh Vara: HM Courts & Tribunals Service’s regional structure encourages staff to review and improve internal processes and communication. This promotes the sharing of information and best practice across the three jurisdictions. Internal communications channels ensure that staff in all jurisdictions receive and share the same information. HM Courts & Tribunals Service is committed to providing an efficient and effective service to users at all of its courts and tribunals. The Government pledged in “Our Commitment to Victims” to ensure that victims’ needs are at the forefront of our plans to modernise the courts. In particular, the Government implemented a new Code of Practice for Victims of Crime on 10th December 2013. The Victims’ Code outlines the minimum entitlements every victim of crime must expect to receive from Criminal Justice System partners.

Harassment

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims of stalking or harassment have reported being the subject of vexatious civil or family court applications in each of the last five years.

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for redress to civil or family courts during each of the last five years were deemed to be vexatious.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does not record the number of applications to the civil and family courts which are deemed to be vexatious. However, HMCTS does record the number of ‘totally without merit’ orders that are made following an application being deemed as totally without merit. The data provided in this answer relates to orders made when applications are deemed to be totally without merit. HMCTS maintains a national database which lists all civil and family totally without merit orders. The retention period for entries on the database is three years and therefore only data relating to this period is set out in the table below. In addition, the orders may relate to multiple applications and therefore the volume of orders will not necessarily represent the number of applications received by HMCTS.   Table One: Totally without merit orders made in the last three years[1]Time periodNumber of Totally Without Merit Orders made1 March 2012 – 28 February 201320801 March 2013 – 28 February 201430041 March 2014 – 28 February 20151495 HMCTS does not record the number of victims that have reported vexatious applications or the nature of proceedings, including whether they relate to stalking or harassment. In order to provide the information HMCTS would have to manually review each file that relates to stalking and harassment claims. This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.[1] This data is internal HMCTS management information and it is not subject to the same level of checking as Official Statistics.

Reparation by Offenders

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many local authority areas restorative justice is available for victims of crime; and how many victims accessed this service in the last year for which figures are available.

Mike Penning: The Government is committed to ensuring that good quality, victim-focused restorative justice is available at all stages of the criminal justice system so that, where appropriate, victims can access it at a time that is right for them. The Government has provided funding to Police and Crime Commissioners to build capacity and capability and commission restorative justice services for victims as part of the wider grant for victim services. Information about the numbers of victims who access restorative justice services is not collated centrally.

Courts: Buildings

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) Crown and (b) magistrates' courts supply discrete waiting areas for victims and witnesses.

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) victims and (b) witnesses had access to discrete waiting areas in courts in England and Wales in the last year for which data is available.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Government pledged in “Our Commitment to Victims” to consider the needs of victims and witnesses as we reform the court system. This will include upgrading facilities such as separate waiting areas. All Crown Court Centres have separate waiting facilities for victims and witnesses.97% of magistrates’ courts have some kind of separate witness waiting facility.[1] For those courts that do not have this facility, special arrangements are put in place with advance notice. HM Courts and Tribunals Service uses information about victims and witnesses in criminal cases to ensure that individual trials are managed effectively and victims and witnesses are not kept waiting around unnecessarily to give their evidence. We do not, however, hold data on the number of victims and witnesses choosing to use the discrete waiting areas. [1] Her Majesty’s Court Service Annual Report and Accounts 2009-2010http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/hmcs/annual-reports/HMCS-Annual-Report2009-2010-web.pdf?type=Finjan-Download&slot=000000A2&id=000000A1&location=0A64020C

Trials

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many cases where a suspect had been charged in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 their trial began after more than (i) six and (ii) 12 months.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has two separate case management systems, LIBRA in the magistrates’ courts, and CREST in the Crown Court. The date of charge and date of trial are recorded in LIBRA, but the date of charge is not always recorded on CREST. Also, as a number of cases charged during this period are yet to enter a plea, it is not possible to identify how many will have a trial, or at what point. A number of offences charged during 2014 will not yet have reached six or twelve months since receipt by HMCTS. The Ministry of Justice does, however, publish official statistics on the timeliness of criminal cases in Criminal Courts Statistics Quarterly at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics.

Criminal Proceedings

Mr Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce delays in criminal proceedings in courts in England and Wales.

Mr Shailesh Vara: I refer the right hon Member to the reply given to the hon Member for Hayes and Harlington on 27 February (PQ224446), which can be viewed at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=QuestionsWithAnswersOnly&house=commons%2clords&use-dates=True&answered-from=2015-02-27&answered-to=2015-02-27&uin=224446.

Courts: Buildings

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2015 to Question 225118, what the stages of the court reform programme are; and when his Department plans to finalise the resource allocation for each such stage.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The stages of the Reform Programme will be subject to ongoing refinement through to summer 2015. The resource allocation for each stage will be developed as this planning progresses.

Open Prisons

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2015 to Question 214860, what the individual offences committed were in the violence against the person category referred to in the tables.

Andrew Selous: Absconds and escapes have reached record lows under this Government and temporary release (ROTL) failures have dropped over the past 12 months during which we have taken significant steps to strengthen the ROTL regime. Between July and September 2014 (the latest period for which data are available), there were a total of 61 recorded temporary release failures, 33% lower than the same quarter in 2013. In April-June 2014, there were 40% fewer failures compared to the previous year.The table attached shows the number of prisoners with a principal offence of violence against the person who were in open prisons on 30 May 2014 and who had previously absconded, escaped or breached temporary release conditions, broken down by offence. The data in the table is derived from a one-off exercise to look in detail at those prisoners who were in open conditions on 30 May, which was conducted as part of the review of temporary release. It should be noted that the definition of “open prison” for the purposes of this exercise included some prisons operating both open and closed conditions on the same site to ensure that all prisoners with a previous abscond, escape or serious ROTL failure were identified and assessed. It is therefore possible that a number of prisoners included in the total were actually in closed conditions at the relevant time.Temporary release and open conditions can be valuable tools in the resettlement of prisoners in the community but never at the expense of public safety. We conducted a fundamental review of the policy and practice of release on temporary licence (ROTL) after serious failures in 2013. We have already made significant changes, including the introduction in May 2014 of a ban on transfer to open prison or ROTL for any prisoner who escapes, abscond, fails to return from ROTL or commits an offence whilst on ROTL during their current sentence.This change in policy for eligibility for open conditions was not applied retrospectively. However, any prisoners who were assessed to present an unacceptable risk in such conditions in light of their previous non-compliance were returned to closed prisons.



Prisoners in open prisons on temporary licence
(Excel SpreadSheet, 32 KB)

Employment Tribunals Service

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for remissions relating to fees for employment tribunal proceedings have been (a) made and (b) awarded in each month since July 2013.

Mr Shailesh Vara: My answer given on 15 October 2014, which can be viewed athttp://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2014-07-15/206019, records the number of fee remission awards in each month from July 2013 to June 2014. Official statistics are due to be published on 12 March 2015 which will include the number of remission applications made and awarded for the employment tribunals on a quarterly basis from July 2013 to September 2014.

Billing

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of suppliers to his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies paid subcontractors within 30 days in the last period for which figures are available.

Mr Shailesh Vara: To answer this question would incur disproportionate costs.

Billing

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of suppliers to his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are signatories to the Prompt Payment Code.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Answering this question would incur disproportionate costs. I can confirm that as of 26th February 2015, the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Regulation 113) stipulates that payment of undisputed invoices must be made within 30 days, as applicable to MoJ Suppliers and all suppliers within the supply chain.

Billing

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what requirements his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies place on suppliers in respect of their payment terms to subcontractors as part of their standard terms and conditions.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The MoJ’s standard terms and conditions require that where the Contractor enters into a sub-contract with a supplier or contractor for the purpose of performing its obligations under the Contract, it must ensure that a provision is included in such a sub-contract which requires payment to be made of all sums due by the Contractor to the sub-contractor within a specified period not exceeding 30 days from the receipt of a valid invoice provided always that the Contractor has been paid by the Authority.

Disclosure of Information

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit companies selling an individual's personal information to third parties.

Simon Hughes: The Government has no plans to ban companies from selling personal data to third parties. The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) does not prohibit disclosures of personal data to third parties, but it regulates the circumstances in which this can be done. As a minimum, companies should tell individuals what they are going to do with their personal data and with whom this will be shared. In cases where organisations do not comply with the DPA the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has a range of powers to take action, including the power to serve a Civil Monetary Penalty (CMP) of up to £500,000. In the most serious cases, section 55 of the DPA makes it an offence for a person to knowingly or recklessly obtain, disclose or procure the disclosure of personal data without the consent of the data controller. The offence is punishable by an unlimited fine for cases heard in the Crown Court and a fine of a maximum of £5,000 for cases heard in the magistrates’ courts.

Prison Service

Mrs Siân C. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many members of staff of English prisons are Welsh speakers.

Andrew Selous: Information on how many staff of the National Offender Management Service speak Welsh is not held centrally and to collate this information to answer this question would incur disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Females

Mrs Siân C. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse was of Welsh female prisoners held in English prisons in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Simon Hughes: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) does not separate annual costs of imprisoning Welsh women prisoners held in England prisons. NOMS does not analyse cost by prisoner nationality and costs recorded on the NOMS central accounting system do not allow identification of costs attributable to individual prisoners.However, the Department routinely publishes average costs for each prisoner and prison place based on actual net resource expenditure for each private and public sector prison.. This includes the women’s custodial estate and is available in summary form for the whole of the prison estate in England and Wales, on an annual basis after the end of each financial year. The most recently published figures for financial year 2013-14 is published alongside the NOMS Annual Report and Accounts and available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics-201314 You may wish to note detailed costs of custody for women prisoners can be found at the above link within the file named: costs per place and cost for each prisoner 2013-14 - supplementary information. A copy of this is also placed in the House library. The Department is committed to delivering prison capacity changes designed to modernise the prison estate and, where possible, reduce prison costs, whilst maintaining a high quality service.From the financial years 2009-10 to 2013-14 there was a real terms reduction of 17% in the overall average cost for each prisoner, with a reduction of 5% achieved during the last financial year 2013-14.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what costs have been incurred in (a) legal aid and (b) other court costs arising from the issuing of anti-social behaviour orders in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Legal Aid Agency made payments totalling £1,309,000 in relation to stand alone anti-social behaviour order proceedings in magistrates’ courts in England and Wales between October 2013 and September 2014. HM Courts and Tribunals Service does not separately record court costs in relation to anti-social behaviour orders.

Mental Illness

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.

Simon Hughes: The MoJ was the second government department to sign the Time to Change pledge in April 2013 and since then has been working to take steps to eliminate discrimination and stigma surrounding mental health through a variety of measures including: · Training with Mind for senior managers in 2013 and more recently encouraging all staff to access Mental Health Awareness online learning on the Civil Service Learning portal;· Provision of extensive information and guidance to staff and managers of all grades, including introducing Mental Wellbeing intranet pages, guides on mental health in the workplace, links to external support (such as Mind, Rethink, Business Disability Forum and Time to Change) and internal information and support such as the MoJ Employee Assistance Programme and the Reasonable Adjustment Support Service;· Awareness raising activity and staff events to increase understanding of mental health issues and challenge stereotypes, including events for the International Day of Disabled People and 'Time to Talk' days, as well as including staff with mental ill-health in an internal 'Positive Images of Disability' communications campaign. Time to Change and issues surrounding mental health in the workplace remain high on MoJ's employee wellbeing and diversity and inclusion agendas.

Ministry of Defence

Veterans: Radiation Exposure

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent representations he has received on compensation for Christmas Island nuclear test veterans; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 26 February 2015



In May 2013, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) (War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber) heard appeals from a group of Nuclear Test Veterans against the decisions on their war pension applications.Those appellants who were unsuccessful subsequently, appealed to the Upper-tier Tribunal (UTT). On 5 November 2014, the UTT remitted the case back to the FTT. The Ministry of Defence is preparing for this remitted hearing. While this process remains under way, it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Ukraine

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British military personnel have been assigned to support the training of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 09 March 2015



On 24 February 2015 the Prime Minister announced additional UK non-lethal support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Around 75 British military personnel comprising of military trainers, advisors and liaison staff will provide this support, in the areas of medical, logistics, infantry, and intelligence capacity-building. The exact numbers will vary depending on the scheduling of the training activities.This activity is in addition to ongoing defence engagement in areas such as leadership, defence reform, anti-corruption, strategic communications and procurement.

Ukraine

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what former British military equipment has been (a) gifted and (b) sold to the Ukrainian armed forces in the last two years.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 09 March 2015



During the period 01 Jan 2013 - 28 Feb 2015 no former British military equipment was gifted by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.In October 2014 Witham's specialist Vehicles Ltd, acting on behalf of the MOD's Disposal Services Authority, agreed a sale of 75 surplus former British military Saxon Armoured Personnel Carriers to Ukraine.

Biological Weapons

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many biological warfare casualty treatment facilities his Department has in place; and what the state of readiness of those facilities is.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 05 March 2015



The Defence Medical Services (DMS) do not maintain treatment facilities which are specifically dedicated to casualties of "biological warfare". The management of a biological casualty would be embedded in an "all-hazards" treatment regime designed for managing infectious diseases, whether caused by natural (endemic) disease or hostile action. We have the capability to put in place facilities to respond to a range of eventualities.The treatment of biological casualties follows internationally-mandated 'surviving sepsis' guidelines, which are taught to DMS personnel and would be applicable to biological attacks involving such infections as meningococcal disease, plague, and anthrax.

Biological Weapons

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the armed forces are trained in biological warfare; and what plans he has to increase the number of such people.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 05 March 2015



In accordance with the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, which prohibits the use of Biological Weapons, UK Armed Forces personnel are not trained in offensive Biological Warfare. The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention does permit programmes and activities to protect against the use of Biological WeaponsIn accordance with the UK policy on Chemical Biological Radiation and Nuclear (CBRN) Protection, all members of the Armed Forces receive CBRN defence training on initial entry and thereafter on a routine basis, the frequency of which is determined by role and readiness state.

Air Space

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of UK defences against potential air attacks.

Mr Mark Francois: We keep the effectiveness of the UK's multi-layered defences against potential air attacks under constant review, whether through NATO air policing operations against state based threats or our own high readiness counter terrorist response.

Air Space

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many incursions into sovereign UK airspace took place in the last 12 months; and what the nature of those incursions was.

Mr Mark Francois: In the last 12 months there have been no unauthorised incursions by any foreign military aircraft into sovereign air space around the UK, which projects 12 miles off shore or to mutually agreed mid-points between adjacent nations over narrow straits such as the Straits of Dover. In terms of recent Russian military aircraft activity which has attracted media attention, these aircraft have remained in international airspace at all times. The UK civil air traffic region and the NATO Air Policing Area, for which the UK have responsibility for monitoring, include large areas of international air space through which foreign military traffic may legally transit.

Territorial Waters

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many incursions into sovereign UK waters took place in the last 12 months; and what the nature of those incursions was.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Patrick Finucane Review

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether information made available to Desmond de Silva QC for his report on the Patrick Finucane Review included information on Brian Nelson's discharge from the army and his subsequent recruitment and deployment as an army intelligence agent.

Mr Mark Francois: Sir Desmond de Silva was provided with all available information relating to Brian Nelson's recruitment and deployment as an army intelligence agent. He did not seek information from the Government relating to Nelson's earlier discharge from the Army.

Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Voyager Aircraft pilots his Department engages; and how many such pilots who started the Voyager Aircraft programme remain flying the aircraft.

Mr Mark Francois: The total number of Regular Royal Air Force pilots and Sponsored Reservist pilots engaged by the Ministry of Defence to operate the Voyager is 74. Of these, 70 remain flying with the Voyager.

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the low-level performance of the P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

Mr Philip Dunne: No assessment of the P-8 performance has been undertaken.

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what aircraft his Department is considering for the future Maritime Patrol Aircraft capability.

Mr Philip Dunne: There are several aircraft in the marketplace at varying levels of development. No decision has been taken to acquire a replacement maritime patrol capability and the key user requirements for such a replacement have yet to be settled. This will be a decision for the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Radar

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the operational success of the wind-farm-friendly Lockhead Martin TPS-77 radar system; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has installed three Lockheed Martin TPS-77 air defence radars since 2011. These radars have completed Site Acceptance Testing and one of the radars (Trimingham) has been declared at Initial Operating Capability (IOC). Work continues to reach IOC on the other two radars, which is expected this year; Full Operating Capability will follow flight testing of these radars against specific wind-farms, with the first flight test planned for late 2015.

Radar

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the trials of the Lockhead Martin TPS-77 radar system to be completed and the results to be published.

Mr Philip Dunne: Flight trials have completed for the first TPS-77 radar at Trimingham and the results are being assessed. Flight trials are planned for two further radars at Brizlee Wood and Staxton Wold, beginning in late 2015. The Ministry of Defence has no plans to publish the results of the flight trials for national security and commercial reasons.

Radar

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Department of Energy and Climate Change Aviation Plan Update (2015), what role his Department is taking in the trials of the Lockhead Martin TPS-77 radar system; and how he will ensure his Department's interests are properly taken into account.

Mr Philip Dunne: Although the trialling of the TPS-77 radars, mentioned in the 'Aviation Plan: 2015 update', is not a specific work stream, the Ministry of Defence will lead the flight trials activity, with assistance from defence contractors as appropriate. This will ensure that the Department's interests are properly taken into account.

Procurement

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the amount (a) his Department and (b) its agencies and non-departmental public bodies spent on procurement was paid to small and medium-sized enterprises (i) directly and (ii) through the supply chain in the last year for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes data on direct expenditure with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), excluding its trading funds, on the Gov.UK website. The final figures for financial year 2012/13 and the provisional figures for financial year 2013/14 are available at the link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-contracting-with-smes-indexThe MOD does not hold data on expenditure with SMEs through the supply chain (indirect expenditure). The Cabinet Office has recently published indicative indirect expenditure with SMEs, collated from spend figures reported by suppliers via the SID4GOV platform as part of the centrally coordinated quarterly supplier survey, in their publication 'Central Government direct and indirect expenditure with SMEs 2013 to 2014' available at the link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/central-government-spend-with-smes-2013-to-2014Provisional figures released by the Cabinet Office in this publication indicate that MOD direct and indirect spend with SMEs is 19.4%.For the period April 2014 to February 2015, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory known direct expenditure with SMEs was 9.5%.The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) does not currently record direct or indirect expenditure with SMEs.

Type 26 Frigates

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be created by the construction of the next generation of Royal Navy frigates on the River Clyde.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has agreed a contract worth £859 million for the Type 26 Global Combat Ship programme's Demonstration Phase, which will start on 1 April 2015. This investment will sustain around 1,700 jobs across the UK.The number of jobs required for the Manufacture Phase, which on current plans is scheduled to start in 2016, will be assessed at the programme's main investment decision.

Billing

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what requirements his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies place on suppliers in respect of their payment terms to subcontractors as part of their standard terms and conditions.

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of suppliers to his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies paid subcontractors within 30 days in the last period for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold information on the payment of subcontractors within 30 days. The MOD does include a standard contract condition on Prompt Payment (Sub-contracts) in all contracts. This condition requires prime contractors to include in sub-contracts a term which obliges them to make payments to their sub-contractors within 30 days of receipt of a valid invoice.

Billing

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of suppliers to his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are signatories to the Prompt Payment Code.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence does not record the proportion of its suppliers who have signed up to the Prompt Payment Code.A list of signatories to the Prompt Payment Code can be found on the Code's website:http://ppc.promptpaymentcode.org.uk/ppc/signatory_paged.a4d

Department for Work and Pensions

Means-tested Benefits: Pensions

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department issues to central and local government officials responsible for processing housing benefit and council tax benefit claims on withdrawal of pension fund money under the pension freedom rules that come into force in April 2015.

Steve Webb: For Housing Benefit, guidance will be with local authorities shortly, to assist local authority decision makers who might have to deal with queries about flexible pension products. Council Tax Benefit ended in April 2013 and was replaced by local council tax reduction schemes. Guidance on those is the responsibility of the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Scottish and Welsh governments.

Preston

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff are employed at his Department's offices at Palatine House, Preston; and what planned staffing levels at those offices are in each of the next three financial years.

Esther McVey: 308 people (268 full time equivalents) are based at Palatine House, Preston as at January 2015. Planned levels for 2015-16 are expected to remain around the current level, subject to small levels of turnover. We do not have information yet about the next Comprehensive Spending Review settlement so plans aren’t available beyond 2015-16.

Preston

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff directly employed by his Department at the Carer's Allowance Unit, Palatine House, Preston earn (a) more and (b) less than the national minimum wage.

Esther McVey: All 173 people directly employed by DWP in the Carer’s Allowance Unit, Palatine House, Preston are paid above the statutory national minimum wage. The same is true for all people directly employed by DWP.

Unemployed People: Travel

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will estimate the average cost of travel to routine fortnightly interviews at Jobcentre Plus where claimants live more than a mile from their Jobcentre Plus office.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 06 March 2015



 Travel expenses are not usually reimbursed for attendance at fortnightly interviews. In exceptional circumstances there may be scope for reimbursement; however there would be a disproportionate cost to disaggregate this expenditure based on distance from Jobcentre Plus sites.

Employment and Support Allowance

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on time on benefit of the application of full work conditionality to the employment and support allowance work-related activity group.

Esther McVey: The department does not hold the information described so I cannot provide an assessment as ESA claimants are not subject to full conditionality. Claimants in the Work Related Activity Group are required to undertake work related activity, as a condition of continued entitlement to full payment of benefit. Claimants in the Support Group are not expected to participate in work-related activity but can access support on a voluntary basis.

Social Rented Housing: Unemployed People

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of workless households in social housing.

Mr Mark Harper: The latest available data shows that there were 1.4 million workless households in the social rented sector. This is a reduction of 102,000 from the previous year and follows a continual downward trend over this Parliament. This is the largest fall in the percentage of workless households in the social rented sector since comparable records began. Full details can be found at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lmac/working-and-workless-households/2014/index.html

Employment: Bristol

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have found employment through (a) the Work Programme, (b) the Youth Contract and (c) an apprenticeship in (i) City of Bristol and (ii) Bristol North West constituency in each year since 2010.

Esther McVey: The information requested for part (a), the number of people placed into employment from the Work Programme, is not available. The information we do have shows the number of Work Programme Job Outcomes, by various geographies and this can be found at:http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/WorkProg/tabtool.html Guidance for users can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance The data requested for (b) and (c) is not available. The latest published information on Youth Contract starts and apprenticeship starts can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/youth-contract-starts-and-payments-april-2012-to-november-2014 and https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships

Children: Maintenance

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has undertaken a review of the results of the controlled approach to implementation of the power contained in the Child Support Management of Payments and Arrears (Amendment) Regulations 2012 allowing part payment of child maintenance arrears in full and final satisfaction of a debt where both parents consent; and if he will assess the merits of his Department adopting a pro-active rather than reactive approach to use of that power in suitable cases.

Steve Webb: The Department continues to consider the merits of adopting a proactive approach to part payment of child maintenance arrears. However the immediate priority is to ensure the smooth running of the 2012 child maintenance scheme so that children benefit from regular ongoing maintenance payments and we will continue to do all we can to collect historic Child Support Agency arrears.

State Retirement Pensions

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were affected by the changes to the Home Responsibilities Protection scheme which allow for time bringing up children to be included as a full qualifying year for the State Pension.

Steve Webb: The state pension reforms under the Pensions Act 2007, affecting those reaching state pension age from 6 April 2010, included the introduction of a single contribution condition of 30 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions or credits for a full basic state pension and the replacement of the Home Responsibilities Protection scheme with a new system of National Insurance credits for parents and carers and earlier years of Home Responsibilities Protection were converted into qualifying years. These measures were primarily designed to improve the basic pension entitlements of women. The effects of the relaxation of the contribution conditions and the changes to Home Responsibilities Protection are complex. It has not been practicable to disaggregate the combined effects. However, information on the numbers of women resident in Great Britain receiving the full basic State Pension for the years 2009/10 to 2013/14 can be found in Table 1 of the Ad Hoc statistical release published to support the review of the Pensions Act 2007 which is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/398701/statistical-analysis-review-pensions-act-2007.pdf Equivalent information in relation to men is not readily available.

Children: Maintenance

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department next plans to release statistics on the 2012 statutory child maintenance scheme.

Steve Webb: The next release of the Child Maintenance Service Experimental Statistics on the 2012 Scheme is announced on the GOV.UK website at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/child-maintenance-service-2012-experimental-statistics-february-2015

Children: Maintenance

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents with care who have child maintenance arrears but who are not receiving ongoing maintenance through the Child Support Agency have been contacted by his Department since the Child Support Management of Payments and Arrears (Amendment) Regulations 2012 came into effect to be asked whether they wish the Agency to continue pursuing those arrears.

Steve Webb: Information on the number of cases that have been contacted by the Department regarding the pursuit of arrears is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Personal Independence Payment: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Warrington have (a) applied for a personal independence payment (PIP) and (b) been unsuccessful in their application for a PIP since the introduction of the PIP scheme.

Mr Mark Harper: The available information on registrations, clearances and awards for claims to Personal Independence Payment, at parliamentary constituency level, have been published in the data tables accompanying the latest, quarterly statistical release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-october-2014.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there are circumstances in which it is appropriate for a manager in Jobcentre Plus to press an adviser to increase the number of benefit sanctions he or she is issuing to clients.

Esther McVey: There are no circumstances in which a manager would press an adviser to increase the number of benefit sanctions imposed on claimants.Sanctions are only imposed where, without good reason, people have not met the terms of their Claimant Commitment and/or not taken reasonable action to give themselves the best possible prospects of getting a job. Each case is considered on its own merits and there is a robust system of safeguards in place that seek to ensure sanctions are only applied to those who fail to meet agreed requirements.

Employment Schemes: Disability

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the progress and effectiveness of the Disability Confident campaign in Hertfordshire.

Mr Mark Harper: Employers and wider society both benefit from recruiting more disabled people. Disability Confident is a campaign to help employers discover for themselves the talents and value that disabled people bring to business. Launched in July 2013 by the Prime Minister, supported by business leaders and disability employment organisations, Disability Confident sets out the business case for those employers unsure about the benefits of employing disabled people. It overcomes the fear factor for those employers worried about the logistics or afraid of saying the wrong thing, and emphasises the support available for employers. It highlights the great work that employers are already doing and encourages others to join in. Disability Confident is a partnership approach – a business-to-business dialogue. Partners learn from each other about how to become disability confident, with support from Government and disability organisations. In the first year of the Disability Confident campaign we held seven regional events across the UK, reaching more than 1,100 employers. In July 2014 we launched a toolkit for MPs – so they can bring together employers and disabled people in their own constituencies. On 27 February a very successful Disability Confident event, coupled with a Jobs Fair, was held in St Albans. Opened by Cllr Geoff Harrison (the Mayor of St Albans), and Anne Main MP, the event provided an opportunity for around 120 jobseekers to make contact with local employers. There is scope for other Hertfordshire MPs to host further Disability Confident events in coming months.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been in receipt of (a) incapacity benefit and (b) employment and support allowance since June 2011; and how many such people have been attached to the Work Programme.

Esther McVey: In response to the first part of the question, statistics on the number of Incapacity Benefit and Employment and Support Allowance recipients, by duration of claim, can be found at: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html In response to the second part, information on Work Programme attachments, by payment group, can be found at:http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/WorkProg/tabtool.html Guidance for users is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2015 to Question 225560, when his Department plans to conclude its reviews of all claimant communications and sanctions processes; and if he will publish the results of that review.

Esther McVey: We have accepted all the recommendations made by the Oakley Report and have already implemented a number of improvements. The Government has published our response which sets out a number of target completion dates and a copy can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/332137/jsa-sanctions-independent-review-government-response.pdf  In the Government Response to the Oakley Review we committed to report on the progress of the Communications Review by the end of 2014. The Department published an update on improvements to communications following the review, on 18 December 2014. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/387727/jsa-sanctions-independent-review-government-response-update.pdf

Universal Credit

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2015 to the hon. Member for East Ham to Question 222906, if he plans for the number of universal credit claimants in May 2015 to be between 50,000 and 150,000.

Mr Mark Harper: The Department is not setting targets for numbers in receipt of Universal Credit at various points in time. The latest forecast agreed with OBR rounds to 0.1 million cases, as set out in Universal Credit at Work published in October 2014.

Children: Maintenance

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to close loopholes in securing child maintenance payments from non-resident parents since 2010.

Steve Webb: The new statutory child maintenance scheme introduced in 2012 primarily uses a link to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to get information on taxable earnings of non-resident parents. This enables more accurate maintenance calculations and removes the ability of many paying parents to manipulate the income information they provide. Under the 2003 Scheme we have also expanded income assessable for maintenance to include ‘foreign earnings’ declarable to HMRC for UK tax purposes. To secure collection, we continue to apply targeted enforcement measures proportionate to the difficulties and severity of any instance(s) of non-compliance. To reinforce this, since 2010, we have introduced the ability to deduct maintenance directly from someone’s bank account.

Children: Maintenance

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency cases remain to be migrated to the Child Maintenance Service; and what estimate he has made of when that process will be complete.

Steve Webb: At 31 January 2015 743,100 live Child Support Agency cases remained eligible for case closure. The Child Support Agency started to end child maintenance arrangements on its 1993 and 2003 schemes in 2014 and all cases are due to have their arrangements ended by the end of 2017. Parents are being encouraged to think about making their own family-based arrangement and those who are not able to come to such an agreement are able to apply to the Child Maintenance Service.  Note: 1. This is an indicative estimate based on the case load as at 31 January 2015.

Children: Maintenance

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the Child Support Agency has been made since 2010.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what interim evaluation has been made of the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service compared to the Child Support Agency since its establishment.

Steve Webb: The National Audit Office completed an independent review of the Child Maintenance Service in 2014. The final report, ‘Child maintenance 2012 scheme: early progress’ is published at http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Child-maintenance-2012-scheme-early-progress.pdf.There has not been an equivalent review of the Child Support Agency since 2010. The Department will evaluate the effectiveness of the Child Maintenance Service in line with the ‘Child Maintenance Reforms Evaluation Strategy’, published at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/387584/child-maintenance-reforms-evaluation-strategy.pdf.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending his Department's transparency indicators to apply to the timeliness of benefit processing.

Esther McVey: The Department’s transparency indicators sit within the Government’s Business Plan framework. The indicators were agreed with Cabinet Office Ministers at the start of this Parliament and are not subject to further review or extension in this Parliament. The Department publishes a wide range of data on gov.uk in addition to the transparency indicators.

Bank Services: Greater London

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people in London, and in each London borough, who do not have a bank account.

Steve Webb: The information is not available in the format requested. Benefit and Pension recipients who do not have a bank account are paid by Simple Payment.As of 15th January 2015, there were 45,911 benefit recipients and pensioners in Great Britain being paid by Simple Payment.

Pension Credit

Dame Anne Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people in receipt of pension credit whose income from their state pension and pension credit was (a) less in the 2014-15 financial year than it was in the previous financial year, and (b) less in the 2013-14 financial year than it was in the 2012-13 financial year.

Dame Anne Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people for whom the freezing of the savings element of pensions credit and increases in the basic state pension has had a net negative effect on their income in each of the last three financial years.

Steve Webb: The overall impact of benefit up-rating on a customer’s income depends on a wide variety of factors (including for example any changes to their non state pensions that occur around the same time) which means we cannot accurately measure these impacts. However, the increases in the basic State Pension under the terms of the triple lock, have been more significant than the reductions in the savings credit. Overall it is unlikely that any Pension Credit customer should be worse off, in cash terms, as a result of the uprating decisions made over the last three years.

Jobcentre Plus

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many telephones he expects to be available to claimants in Jobcentre Plus in each of the next five years; and what is the average number of telephones in each Jobcentre Plus.

Esther McVey: As part of our Jobcentre modernisation programme we have replaced all Customer Access Phones with computers. Over 80 per cent of new Jobseeker’s Allowance claims are taken online and job search is predominantly internet based. Vulnerable claimants who require access to a phone in connection with their benefit or job search will still be given access to a telephone in a Jobcentre.

Widowed Parents Allowance

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effects on divorced partners of their exclusion from widowed parents' allowance; and what consultation his Department has undertaken on the potential financial effect on children of that policy.

Steve Webb: This is a long-standing position in bereavement benefits. It will continue under the new Bereavement Support Payment, the provisions of which were debated by this House during the passage of the Pensions Act 2014. Those who are divorced have access to income-related benefits in the same way as other lone parents .

Unemployment

Steve Brine: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress he has made on reducing the unemployment rate.

Esther McVey: The unemployment rate has fallen from 8% in 2010 to 5.7% today – the lowest it’s been since 2008.

Social Security Benefits

Mr Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of trends in the number of people ceasing to claim benefits.

Esther McVey: The number of people claiming one of the main out of work benefits has fallen by over 900,000 since 2010. This is the lowest level for a quarter of a century.

Housing Benefit

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his most recent estimate is of the number of working households claiming housing benefit.

Steve Webb: Latest figures show that there are just over 1 million in-work housing benefit claims. This reflects the fact that under this Government the number of out-of-work Housing Benefit claimants has fallen. This is to be expected, as more people are getting back into work than ever before.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's policy is on sanctioning claimants who miss appointments because of probationary commitments.

Esther McVey: Claimants are only asked to meet reasonable requirements in order to move off benefits and into work. Where claimants have good reason to miss an appointment, such as probationary commitments, then a sanction will not apply.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to review the effectiveness of the mandatory reconsideration process.

Mr Mark Harper: We are confident mandatory reconsideration is already having a positive effect on the resolution of disputes. Appeals against ESA decisions decreased by 86% in July to September 2014 compared to the same quarter in 2013. On average ESA mandatory reconsiderations are cleared within 13 calendar days.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Eels

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Environment Agency has spent on conserving the habitat of eels since 2010.

George Eustice: Since 2010 the Environment Agency has spent £26.4 million on projects aimed at improving our rivers, streams, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters which have multiple benefits for the water environment and encompass eel habitats.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Planning Permission

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of planning applications which are determined under delegated authority by planning officers in (a) England and (b) each of the district authorities in Gloucestershire.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 03 March 2015



The proportions of planning decisions delegated to planning officers in England in July to September 2014 are recorded in the Planning Applications Statistics Live Table P133. This is available at www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-planning-application-statistics.The exercise of the power to delegate planning functions is a matter for the local planning authority to decide, as set out in the council’s constitution. Unlike the last Administration, we have not imposed Whitehall targets on councils requiring the delegation of a specific percentage of planning decisions. Councils will want to consider the best way of promptly processing uncontroversial planning applications, whilst ensuring elected councillors have the ability to scrutinise and debate contentious applications and applications with a significant impact.

Enterprise Zones

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to promote the use of enterprise zones by businesses.

Penny Mordaunt: My Department works actively with UK Trade and Investment, BIS sector leads as well as local partners to promote opportunities in Enterprise Zones to businesses across the UK and overseas. UK Trade and Investment encourages and supports overseas companies to consider Enterprise Zones as a good place to set up or expand their businesses. They do this by working to support the marketing efforts on Zones and publicising opportunities for businesses within their international networks. This collective approach is working. By the end of 2014, more than 450 businesses had come to Enterprise Zones. Alongside this, there has been significant investment in infrastructure, including around £200 million of commitments from the Local Growth Fund. This will help to attract more businesses to Enterprise Zones in future.

Starter Home Initiative

Mr Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in evaluating the potential scope for the starter homes policy, what estimate he has made of the (a) area of land not otherwise likely to be designated for housing development, which might become available under the starter homes policy, and (b) number of homes built on such sites in the next five years.

Mr Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department made when assessing the potential availability of land for its proposed starter homes policy of the proportion of sites that might otherwise be brought forward for residential development without the introduction of that policy.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 06 March 2015



As laid out in the guidance on Starter Homes published by my Department, Starter Homes exception sites are expected to be on land that has been in commercial or industrial use, and which has not currently been identified for residential development. The types and sizes of site suitable for Starter Homes are likely to vary across the country, and will reflect the pattern of existing and former industrial and commercial use as well as local market conditions. Land in both public and private ownership can be considered The Coalition Government’s goal is to deliver 100,000 new homes under the scheme. Already more than 30 house builders have said that they support the plans. The Prime Minister has also set out Conservative Party policy intentions to take the scheme further in the next Parliament.

Starter Home Initiative

Mr Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reason the in perpetuity provision applicable to discounts in rural exceptions sites is not applied to homes developed under the starter homes exceptions policy.

Brandon Lewis: The Government believes a five year restriction on the sale or letting of a Starter Home at its open market value under the new Starter Home exception sites planning policy strikes the right balance between discouraging short term speculation and enabling this generation of young first buyers into homeownership.

Billing

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what requirements his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies place on suppliers in respect of their payment terms to subcontractors as part of their standard terms and conditions.

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of suppliers to his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies paid subcontractors within 30 days in the last period for which figures are available.

Kris Hopkins: This information is not held centrally. However, where a contractor enters into a subcontract, for the purpose of performing its obligations under the contract, a term is included in such subcontract. The term requires payment to be made by the contractor to the subcontractor within a specified period not exceeding 30 days from receipt of a valid invoice as defined by the subcontract.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2015 to Question 218656, what the reason was for the time taken to answer that question.

Kris Hopkins: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Illness

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.

Kris Hopkins: The Department is strongly committed to positively addressing these issues and since signing the Pledge in 2013, has trained staff in mental health first aid and run several courses to better equip staff and managers in dealing positively with mental health issues. The Department has also trained and supported staff to act as Mental Health Ambassadors refreshing that group and role in March this year and enabling them to raise awareness of mental health issues and reduce the fear and stigma that often does attach to those illnesses. We have also run a number of Mental Health Awareness Workshops to support that work and have offered places on those sessions to staff from other Government Departments so that we can support the wider positive approach to addressing mental health across the Civil Service. The Department is now developing a Wellbeing Plan that will focus on continuing and resourcing this drive into 2015-16 and beyond.

Young People: Greater London

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) London and (b) each London borough who are under the age of 35 and live with their parents.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Families: Disadvantaged

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many families have participated in the Troubled Families Programme to date; and in how many cases a family member has secured a sustained job outcome following participation in the programme.

Kris Hopkins: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wales Office

Senior Civil Servants: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on the retention of Welsh as a requirement for applicants to senior managerial public roles in areas where Welsh is the main language.

Alun Cairns: I have regular discussions with Welsh Government ministers on a range of issues, including the Welsh language.The Welsh language is a devolved subject and the adoption and successful implementation of Welsh language schemes is a matter for individual public bodies in Wales.The UK Government is fully committed to the Welsh language and to providing Government services in the Welsh language. The Wales Office supports other Departments in delivering their Welsh language services, and proactively seeks opportunities to raise the profile of the Welsh language across Government.

Public Holidays: St David's Day

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with (a) cabinet colleagues and (b) the Welsh Government on making St David's Day a bank holiday in Wales.

Stephen Crabb: None. The Government has no plans to change the arrangements for bank holidays in England and Wales.

HM Treasury

Minimum Wage

Paul Burstow: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2015 to Question 218249, if he will provide a breakdown of the figures in the Answer by (a) employment sector and (b) gender; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The Government takes the enforcement of National Minimum Wage very seriously. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should make a complaint to the Pay & Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) review every complaint that is referred to them by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. In addition, HMRC conducts risk-based enforcement activities in sectors or areas where there is a higher risk of workers not getting paid the legal minimum wage.   HMRC has identified arrears of National Minimum Wage for the following numbers of workers by gender in each of the past four years as detailed in the table below. Due to changes in the way HMRC record management information on trade sectors during the period requested it is not possible to provide a per worker breakdown by sector.   Year2008/092009/102010/112011/122012/132013/14Male11,7579,81110,9088,89211,18510,461Female11,4909,43412,0118,47915,33412,149Total23,24719,24522,91917,37126,51922,610   A number of cases arising from HMRC’s concerted work in the social care sector over recent years has helped to contribute towards an increase in arrears payments to female workers, due to the composition of the workforce in that sector

National Savings Bonds: Pensioners

Mike Freer: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications for 65+ Guaranteed Growth Bonds his Department estimated it would receive; how many applications for such bonds have been received; what estimate he made of how much time it would take to process each application for such bonds; and how long it is taking to process each such application.

Andrea Leadsom: HM Treasury estimated that £10bn of the 65+ bond would help over a million pensioners.   The original scheme was extended on Sunday 8 February the Chancellor announced the Government will extend the availability of the Bonds. Following the unprecedented demand - which has made this the biggest sale of any retail financial product in Britain's modern history - the Bonds will now be on sale until 15 May 2015.   Applications are received through the internet, by phone and by post, and have different processing times. Transactions undertaken over the internet and by phone receive a debit card receipt confirming that the funds have been taken within a few hours, and they will receive an email confirmation within two days. It takes between 7 and 10 days to process a postal application, this timeframe includes 2 days for the postal delivery service.

Financial Markets

Joan Walley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make representations to the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority to encourage them to take sustainability issues into account in the regulatory frameworks governing financial markets.

Andrea Leadsom: The Bank of England, its subsidiary the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) operate independently within the statutory remit agreed by Parliament.   The statutory principles of good regulation to which the PRA and FCA must have regard, provided for at section 3B of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 include “the desirability of sustainable growth in the economy of the United Kingdom in the medium or long term”.

Taxation

Mr Michael Meacher: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the date, amount and reason for being additional is of each item of the £100 billion of compliance revenues secured since April 2010.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)’s compliance performance is measured using internal management information systems. This data is constructed from information derived from individual compliance cases or activities within HMRC.   All items are additional tax revenues raised from compliance activities, hence the term additional.   The additional tax revenues collected from compliance activities by HM Revenue and Customs for each year since May 2010 is as follows.   (£bn)2010/11*2011/122012/132013/142014/15Outturns13.918.620.723.9 Target26   *Note: the methodology for calculating additional tax revenues from compliance activity changed between 2010/11 and 2011/12, and so the figure of £13.9bn is not directly comparable to later years.

Tonnage Tax

John McDonnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the change in tax liabilities for shipping companies in the tonnage tax scheme was in each (a) calendar and (b) financial year since the scheme was introduced; and what estimate he has made of the change in those liabilities in (i) 2014, (ii) 2013-14, (iii) 2015 and (iv) 2014-15.

Mr David Gauke: The tables below provides estimates of the difference between accruals of tax liabilities for the UK Shipping Industry through tonnage tax and what they would otherwise have been under standard UK Corporation Tax since 2000 for (a) calendar year and (b) financial year.   Calendar YearReduction In Tax Liabilities1, 420003£60m20013£65m20023£65m20033£80m20043£90m2005£95m2006£90m2007£135m2008£270m2009£95m2010£95m2011£120m20122£100m20135£100m20145£95m20155£95m Financial YearReduction In Tax Liabilities1, 42000/013£60m2001/023£65m2002/033£70m2003/043£80m2004/053£90m2005/06£90m2006/07£100m2007/08£170m2008/09£225m2009/10£95m2010/11£100m2011/122£115m2012/135£100m2013/145£100m2014/155£95m   Notes to tables: Estimates have been rounded to the nearest £5m,The latest tax returns data available are for 2012,Estimates for 2000-2004 should be treated as indicative only, due to insufficient data being available before 2005,Estimates are based on the assumption that without the introduction of tonnage tax in 2000, the level of affected UK shipping activities would have remained equal to that of 1999,For years after 2012, estimates are projections.

Remploy

Pamela Nash: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2015 to Question 224963, on which dates since May 2010 Ministers in his Department met a former Remploy employee.

Andrea Leadsom: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.   Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm.

Personal Income

Sir Gerald Howarth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the median net income of (a) online short term lending customers, (b) credit card holders and (c) an average UK citizen in full-time work.

Andrea Leadsom: Information is not available for points a or b, as the ONS do not publish earnings data split by use of financial services. The most recent ONS publication of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) indicates that median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees were £518 in April 2014.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Frank Dobson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to answer Question 224902, tabled by the hon. Member for Holborn and St Pancras on 23 February 2015 for Named day answer on 26 February 2015.

Andrea Leadsom: I have done so.

Tax Allowances

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the European Commission asked the Government for further information in connection with the application for state aid approval for changes to (a) the Enterprise Investment Scheme and (b) social investment tax relief.

Mr David Gauke: The Government notified the European Commission of changes to the Enterprise Investment Scheme in and Social Investment Tax Relief and is awaiting State aid clearance for both schemes.   The Government is committed to securing clearance as soon as possible.   As ongoing discussions between the European Commission and Member States on State aid applications are confidential, the Government is not able to provide any more detail at this stage.

Tax Allowances

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Autumn Statement 2014, paragraph 2.77, what the date was of the Government's application for State Aid approval for changes to (a) the Enterprise Investment Scheme and (b) Social Investment Tax Relief.

Mr David Gauke: The Government submitted an application for State Aid clearance of its Autumn Statement announcement in connection to SITR and EIS on 17 January.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take in response to the resolution of the House of 26 February 2015 on Equitable Life.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government has no plans to change the funding available to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme.   The focus remains on finding and paying the small number of policyholders who remain untraced.

Multinational Companies: Taxation

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to ensure that large multinational internet retailers comply with the diverted profits tax.

Mr David Gauke: The Diverted Profits Tax targets multinationals in any business sector which use a variety of contrived arrangements, to shift profits out of the UK.   The measure is targeted at specific abusive arrangements, and not at any particular companies or sectors.   Where multinational business are going to extraordinary lengths to pay little or no tax in the UK through the use of aggressive tax planning techniques, we will act to stop this.   As a matter of compliance, the legislation sets out the circumstances in which companies need to notify HMRC. When there is potentially a charge to Diverted Profits Tax for an accounting period, the company must notify HMRC within three months of the end of that accounting period.   A company may be liable for a penalty for failure to notify HMRC of a potential liability to the DPT, which is based on the potential lost revenue.

Beer: Taxation

Henry Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the revenue to the public purse from sales of beer since April 2014.

Priti Patel: Receipts from duties on beer that is released for consumption in the UK are published in Table 5 of our monthly alcohol bulletin: https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx   Information on VAT paid by consumers on beer is not available. HM Revenue & Customs do not collect data on VAT receipts by individual goods or services.

Economic Growth

Miss Anne McIntosh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what forecasts he has made of economic growth in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Treasury no longer provides forecasts after the Office for Budget Responsibility was created by this government in 2010 to provide independent and authoritative analysis of the UK’s public finances. Their next set of forecasts will be released on 18th March; the Chancellor will make a statement on them in his budget speech.  The UK economy grew by 2.6 per cent in 2014, the fastest of any major advanced nation in 2014, and forecasts are for robust growth to continue in 2015: the IMF, Bank of England, the OECD and the CBI all forecast the UK economy will grow by between 2.6 per cent and 2.9 per cent in 2015.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Wind Power: Noise

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will ensure that alternative theories of the cause of noise associated with wind turbines are considered by his Department's review of such noise.

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what criteria his Department used to select the experts to be involved in its investigation into excess amplitude modulation.

Matthew Hancock: I refer the my hon. Friend to the answers I gave him to Questions 218569, 218570 and 218571, in which I confirmed that the review will examine the available evidence on wind turbine amplitude modulation.The Department has not selected a contractor to conduct this review. The selection criteria will be set out in the Invitation to Tender, which will be issued shortly.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to page four of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's Corporate Assessment Management Plan from May 2013, what area of equivalent land NDA Properties Ltd (a) holds and (b) expects to be sold in (i) 2014-15 and (ii) 2015-16.

Matthew Hancock: NDA Properties Limited holds approximately 2620 acres of land. It expects to sell approximately 520 acres in 2014-15 and 190 acres in 2015-16.

Nuclear Management Partners

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 222817, what the (a) performance, (b) efficiency and (c) other fees earned by Nuclear Management Partners were in each year since it was appointed as the parent body organisation for that company.

Matthew Hancock: No fees are paid to Nuclear Management Partners (NMP).

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2015 to Question 224209, how much NDA and NDA Properties Limited paid in fees to third parties to manage properties in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: The information requested is as follows:NDA PL  10-11 11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15 136,401.48 83,515.00 184,272.05 133,438.53 212,283.97  NDA  10-11 11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15 201,309.00 448,008.00 470,875.58 396,363.00 257,794.00

Energy

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent estimate he has made of the projected number of years of active energy projection from (a) nuclear power, (b) offshore wind turbines, (c) onshore wind turbines, (d) coal powered power stations, (e) gas powered power stations, (f) solar powered farms, (g) tidal lagoon, (h) biomass and (i) anaerobic digesters.

Matthew Hancock: DECC’s most recently published figures for levelised costs contains information on the operating duration of selected electricity generation for technologies. These are available in the DECC Electricity Generation Costs (December 2013) report:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269888/131217_Electricity_Generation_costs_report_December_2013_Final.pdf.

Fracking

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to establish an independent panel to oversee the regulation of the shale gas industry.

Matthew Hancock: The UK already has a strong regulatory system which provides a comprehensive regime for exploratory activities. To reinforce this system, the Infrastructure Act 2015 introduced a range of further requirements that must be met before an operator can carry out hydraulic fracturing. These include environmental impact assessments, groundwater monitoring, community benefits and the exclusion of protected areas.

Wind Power: Noise

Sir James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what guidance he has provided to planning authorities on the relevance of amplitude modulation in applications for land-based wind turbines in advance of the review of evidence on wind turbine amplitude modulation his Department is appointing acoustics experts to conduct.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 06 March 2015



DECC officials intend to issue an invitation to tender shortly, in order to appoint acoustics experts to review the evidence on wind turbine amplitude modulation (AM) with a view to providing advice on how appropriate AM thresholds might be set in planning conditions.

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many requests his Department has received under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for documents submitted by his Department in support of the Government's application for State Aid Approval for Hinkley Point C; and what the response of his Department was to each such request.

Matthew Hancock: The Department has received two information requests for documents that DECC provided to the European Commission to assist with their investigation into the State aid case for Hinkley Point C. The requested information was withheld as its release would damage and adversely affect international relations, the confidentiality of commercial or industrial information and the commercial interests of the UK Government in the ongoing discussions on the potential Contract for Difference for Hinkley Point C.However, all of the relevant information is available in the Commission’s Closing Decision on the Hinkley Point C State aid case, which was published on 22nd January 2015. This sets out how the UK Government responded to the issues that were raised in the Opening Decision in December 2013 and in the Commission’s consultation with interested parties http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/cases/251157/251157_1615983_2292_4.pdfAny Contract for Difference agreed for Hinkley Point C must be published in line with the requirements of the the Contracts for Difference (Allocation) Regulations 2014. In addition, for Hinkley Point C the Government has also committed to publishing summaries of its value for money assessment.

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the cost was of the Government submission to the European Commission in support of its application for State Aid approval for the Hinkley Point C power plant; what proportion of the costs was spent on legal fees; and what the title is of each support document submitted by the Government with that application.

Matthew Hancock: The information requested is not available.

Hinkley Point Power Stations

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the post-accident emergency evacuation plan for the Hinkley Point nuclear plant in Somerset for people living on the Welsh side of the Bristol Channel.

Matthew Hancock: DECC has not undertaken any assessment of the adequacy of the post-accident emergency evacuation plan for the Hinkley Point nuclear plant in Somerset for citizens living on the Welsh side of the Bristol Channel.Detailed off-site radiation emergency plans are developed by local authorities hosting nuclear sites in accordance with Regulation 9 of the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001 (REPPIR). Such plans include the application of a range of counter-measures, one of which is evacuation. The local authority must ensure that the off-site emergency plans are resilient to a range of conditions within the Detailed Emergency Planning Zone (DEPZ).In the case of Hinkley Point, the DEPZ extends to 3.5 kilometres from the site. In order to prepare for accidents that are much less likely but could affect the wider population, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) REPPIR guidance recommends that a framework should be in place to extend the arrangements in the off-site plan to areas outside the DEPZ. Local Authorities are advised to draw up plans to enable them to extend measures described in their detailed plans if necessary (e.g. in response to very severe emergencies). These are known as “extendibility” plans. Further information about extendibility planning is available on the gov.uk website:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69113/NEPLG_guidance_ch_9_-_extendibility.pdf. The extendibility zones in the Hinkley Point Off-Site Plan do not extend across the Bristol Channel into Wales, however Wales would be notified by DCLG should an incident take place at Hinkley Point. Off-site plans are reviewed and tested on a regular basis, to assess their accuracy and effectiveness, and are continually updated and improved. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is responsible for ensuring that such reviews and tests take place in line with REPPIR. Further information about REPPIR is available on the Health and Safety Executive’s website: http://www.hse.gov.uk/radiation/ionising/reppir.htm.The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and ONR also continually assess the UK’s overall preparedness in terms of planning for, and being able to respond to, nuclear emergencies.Following the events at Fukushima in Japan in 2011, ONR carried out a detailed assessment of the implications of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami for the UK (the Weightman Report), which included analysis and recommendations concerning preparedness for severe and prolonged emergencies. The 2011 report and the assessment of progress against the report can be found on the Health and Safety Executive’s website:http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/fukushima/.

Energy: Meters

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the average amount of outstanding prepayment meter debt for (a) electricity and (b) gas home energy customers was in (i) the UK, (ii) Scotland, (iii) England, (iv) Wales and (v) Northern Ireland in each year from May 2010 up to the most recent period for which records are available.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 06 March 2015



The Department does not hold information on the average amount of outstanding prepayment meter debt.Ofgem closely monitors domestic energy suppliers’ performance and publishes information in relation to debt, but they do not publish data showing the average amount of outstanding debt by payment method such as prepayment meters, or by customers living in Scotland, England or Wales. Ofgem does not monitor the gas and electricity supply market in Northern Ireland as it is a devolved matter.

Housing: Insulation

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the contribution of 3 February 2015 from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in his Department, Official Report, column 22WH, on cavity wall insulation, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of putting in place an independent assessment of properties two years after cavity wall insulation is installed.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Insulation

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the contribution of 3 February 2015 from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in his Department, Official Report, column 21WH, on cavity wall insulation, what assessment his Department has made of the proposal to extend the required number of independent inspections of ECO cavity wall installations beyond five per cent.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Insulation

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the contribution of 3 February 2015 from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in his Department, Official Report, column 22WH, on cavity wall insulation, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the proposal to introduce independent oversight for all cavity wall insulation guarantees.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Insulation

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the contribution of 3 February 2015 from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in his Department, Official Report, columns 18-23WH, on cavity wall insulation, what discussions his Department has had with Ofgem on the independence of the directors of CIGA.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Housing: Insulation

Mr John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the contribution of 3 February 2015 from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in his Department, Official Report, column 22WH, what assessment his Department has made of the proposal to regulate the initial sales conversation of cavity wall insulation providers.

Amber Rudd: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Solar Power

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the change has been in the proportion of renewable energy supplied via solar panels between 2004 and 2014.

Matthew Hancock: The proportion of renewable energy from solar panels increased from 0.7 per cent in 2004 to 3.3 per cent in 2013, a rise of 2.6 percentage points. Data for 2014 will be available on 25 June 2015.Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics, 2014, Table 6.6, available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-of-energy-chapter-6-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes.

Cabinet Office

Public Sector: Procurement

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of public sector procurement has been allocated to ethnic minority businesses in each year since 2010.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to make public sector procurement more inclusive of ethnic minority businesses.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of public sector procurement contract spending has been awarded to ethnic minority small and medium-sized enterprises in each year since May 2010.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of public sector procurement spend has been spent with small and medium-sized enterprises in each year since 2010.

Mr Francis Maude: Since 2010 the Cabinet Office has been working to overhaul the way Government runs its procurement. At the time of the 2010 General Election there were extensive barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises, and overall procurement was run in far too bureaucratic a way We have worked to make the bidding process simpler and to increase the visibility of all contract opportunities on the Contracts Finder website. Complex forms, such as Pre-Qualification Questionnaires, are now abolished for low value contracts.These actions will make it easier for all suppliers, including ethnic minority businesses, to secure public procurement contracts. Figures for central government's spend with SMEs can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-spends-114-billion-with-smes. We recently announced that overall spend in 2013/14 was an unprecedented £11.4 billion - 26.1% of direct and indirect spend - above the aspiration we set for this Parliament of 25%. The Cabinet Office does not hold information centrally on the ethnic origins of business owners.

Infant Mortality

Kate Green: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) infant and (b) perinatal mortality rate was in each (i) region and (ii) local authority area in England in each year from 1985 to 2000.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Mortality Rate
(PDF Document, 40.18 KB)




Excel Spreadsheet for Member - Mortality Rate
(Excel SpreadSheet, 219.08 KB)

Oesophageal Cancer

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) one, (b) five and (c) 10 year survival rate is for patients diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in (i) Liverpool and (ii) England.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Oesophageal Cancer
(PDF Document, 179.4 KB)

Civil Servants: Pensions

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) occupational pensions payments and (b) lump sum pensions payments from the Civil Service Pensions Scheme have been paid after the due date since the transfer of administration of that scheme from Capita to MyCSP.

Mr Francis Maude: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Leicester South on 8 January 2015 to UIN: 219343.

Pensions: Department for Work and Pensions

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many current and former employees of the Department for Work and Pensions (a) have received late pension payments since the spin out of MyCSP in 2010, (b) have not received any pension payments from MyCSP since October 2014, (c) have received delayed pension estimates from MyCSP and (d) are waiting for a pension estimate from MyCSP.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many pension payments by MyCSP to retired employees of the Department for Work and Pensions have been (a) missed and (b) delayed in each month since September 2014.

Mr Francis Maude: Further to my answer of 8 January 2015. Pension payments and pension estimates are provided to all members of the Civil Service pension scheme by the administrator MyCSP Ltd. Statistics on a particular government department’s pensioners are not routinely kept and would involve disproportionate cost to obtain.

Industrial Disputes: Shrewsbury

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the contribution of 23 January 2014 by the Minister of State in his Department, Official Report, column 516, on Shrewsbury 24 (release of papers), when he expects the review of papers held in relation to those convicted in 1973 in relation to alleged incidents during the national building workers strike at building sites in the Shrewsbury area to be concluded.

Mr Francis Maude: A review of these retained papers is under way and will be completed by the end of 2015, as required by the Public Records Act.

Unemployment: EU Countries

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what comparative assessment he has made of unemployment rates in the UK and other European countries in each year since 2009-10; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Unemployment Rates
(PDF Document, 41.09 KB)




Excel Spreadsheet for Member - Unemployment Rate
(Excel SpreadSheet, 27 KB)

Children: Day Care

Alison McGovern: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people in employment earn less than the average hourly cost of a nursery place in London.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Average Hourly Cost
(PDF Document, 97.87 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Telecommunications

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2015 to Question 223733 on telecommunications, who made the oversight referred to in that Answer; and when and by whom that oversight was discovered.

Mr Edward Vaizey: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 05 March 2015.The correct answer should have been:

Policy officials published the Impact Assessment under the Secretary of State's Minister’s name. Once the oversight became clear at Committee Stage of the Infrastructure Bill on 15th January 2015, the Department acted immediately to rectify this and published the document on the 16th January 2015.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Policy officials published the Impact Assessment under the Secretary of State's Minister’s name. Once the oversight became clear at Committee Stage of the Infrastructure Bill on 15th January 2015, the Department acted immediately to rectify this and published the document on the 16th January 2015.

Cinemas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of implications for the film and cinema sectors of the recent fall in cinema attendance.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The BFI monitors cinema admissions through its quarterly box office statistical releases and annual Statistical Yearbook, and later this year will undertake research to better understand audiences for film and changing consumer habits, including cinema attendance. This will help inform future policy interventions as part of the BFI’s next five year plan, in addition to current initiatives such as their Film Audience Network and Neighbourhood Cinema programme.

Public Libraries

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to section one of the Public Libraries and Museums Act 2014, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities properly discharge their (a) duties to meet the needs of public library users and (b) other duties under that Act.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Section 1 of the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 places a duty on the Secretary of State to superintend, and promote the improvement of, the public library service provided by local authorities in England, and to secure the proper discharge by local authorities of the functions in relation to libraries conferred on them as library authorities by or under this Act. There are a number of steps being taken to support my Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of State to meet this statutory duty. This includes close monitoring by the DCMS of developments relating to proposed library service changes throughout England and regular engagement by Ministers and Departmental officials with the library sector stakeholders to identify key issues. In addition, Arts Council England, the development agency for libraries, provides support and development to the libraries sector and collaborates and discusses with the relevant stakeholders to identify challenges and opportunities for libraries.

Broadband

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2015 to Question 223691, what recent discussions he has had with Ofcom on BT's position in the wholesale access market.

Mr Edward Vaizey: I meet regularly with Ofcom to discuss a variety of issues.

Broadcasting Programmes: Yorkshire and the Humber

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to increase investment and training in television production in Yorkshire.

Mr Edward Vaizey: As part of the Government programme of establishing local television services, in the last year two stations have been issued with licences in Leeds and Sheffield that not only broadcast across Yorkshire but also provide career and training opportunities in TV. Screen Yorkshire, which has been in existence for over 10 years, has also been at the forefront of championing the film, TV, games and digital industries in Yorkshire. Some examples of programmes what have been filmed in Yorkshire include: Tyrannosaur, Death Comes to Pemberley, Peaky Blinders, Catch Me Deadly and the new film version of Dad’s Army for release next year. Under Section 337 of the Communications Act, Ofcom requires broadcasters through licence conditions to make arrangements for equal opportunities and training, and to publish observations on this annually.

National Gallery

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will (a) make a public response to the proposals submitted to his Department by PCS as an alternative to privatisation at the National Gallery and (b) refer those proposals to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee for scrutiny; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: (a) The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not received a copy of the proposals referred to. The Director of the National Gallery received a document entitled ‘Why Keeping Staff In-House is the Best Option for the National Gallery, The PCS Alternative Plan’ last week; a copy has not been received by the Department at the present time. The National Gallery Director and his colleagues are currently giving the proposals careful consideration and will issue a detailed response to PCS shortly on behalf of the Gallery. The proposals are part of an on-going consultation with PCS over a proposed programme to add to its existing range of outsourcing options. The Gallery’s conversation with PCS is being facilitated through ACAS. The National Gallery operates at Arm’s length from DCMS, and as such has responsibility for its own staffing arrangements; the content of the letter is an issue for the National Gallery to consider.(b) The document is currently the subject of internal management discussions at the National Gallery and covers a range of internal issues; it is not planned that the document will be subject to scrutiny by the CMS Select Committee.My Right Hon Friend the Secretary of State will not make a statement on the matter.

Television: Children

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department collects on how many acts of (a) altruism and (b) violence the average child will see on television each year.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Ofcom carries out regular audience research into public opinion on standards on TV. Ofcom also assesses complaints made by viewers under the Broadcasting Code, which sets standards for television and radio programmes that broadcasters have to follow. Ofcom is responsible for investigating breaches of content standards, and publishes its decisions on its website in its fortnightly Broadcast Bulletins.

Broadband

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on superfast broadband connectivity rates in each parliamentary constituency in Wales.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Ofcom has published fixed broadband data by UK unitary authority and English county council as of June 2014 at http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/infrastructure/2014/Fixed_local_authority.csv and by postcode at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/research/ir/Fixed_postcode.zip including “Take-up of lines > 30 Mbit/s (number of lines)”. The House of Commons Library has analysed some of the Ofcom data by parliamentary constituency in its Standard Note Fixed Broadband: Policy and Speeds SN06643 at http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/SN06643

Sports: Females

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of which of his Department's policies has been most successful in achieving greater (a) sporting and (b) physical activity amongst women and girls since May 2010.

Mrs Helen Grant: This Government has prioritised increasing women's participation in sport and Sport England has invested in a number of initiatives to this end. Each of these are evaluated both during and on completion of the project, in order to build knowledge and insight of behaviour change in this area. According to Sport England’s Active People Survey the number of women playing sport has increased by 423,600 since 2010.

Sports: Young People

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure there are enough spaces for 16 to 19 year olds to play sport.

Mrs Helen Grant: Since 2010 Sport England has invested over £12 million in 125 sports facilities projects in schools and colleges that 16 to 19 year-olds will directly benefit from.Sport England also invests in local community sports facilities outside schools and colleges, which many students and young people also use regularly.Its Inspired Facilities funding programme has invested £100 million in over 1,800 local sports facilities. Sport England’s Protecting Playing Fields funding programme has invested £22 million in 400 projects to protect and improve over 1,000 pitches

Sports: Students

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to increase numbers of post-16 college students taking part in physical and sporting activity.

Mrs Helen Grant: Sport England is focused on getting more young people playing sport regularly, and is investing in a wide range of projects at further education and sixth form colleges to help achieve this.Sport England’s £8 million Further Education Activation Fund has already invested £6 million in 100 colleges. The latest round of funding made awards to 63 projects which will reach 72 institutions across England, helping 59,000 more students start playing more sport.It has also invested £17 million to recruit and support 153 College Sport Makers whose job is to get more students playing sport in colleges.Sport England is investing £1.3 million over three years in the Association of Colleges Sport - a new organisation that is working with the national governing bodies of sport and appropriate national agencies to increase participation and competition in colleges.

Sports: Females

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to improve female participation in sport at (a) player and (b) manager level.

Mrs Helen Grant: This Government is taking a number of steps to improve female participation in sport at both player and manager level. Sport England's This Girl Can campaign was launched as a response to women's low participation in sport. It is based on a wealth of insight which highlighted the fear of judgement as a unifying factor putting women off sport. The campaign aims to eliminate this fear and change perceptions of what sport is and who it's for.  We are also taking steps to ensure women are participating in sport in leadership positions. SportCoachUK is running Project 500 to increase the number of women coaches, and has supported over 400 women through scholarships to start coaching and progress in coaching. At the very top, there is an expectation that women will comprise at least 25% of the Boards of National Governing Bodies by 2017. We are hosting a Women on Sports' Boards event this week to help sports bodies reach this goal.

Mobile Phones

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the deadline is for sites to be acquired and built under the Mobile Infrastructure Project.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Mobile Infrastructure Project is scheduled to complete in March 2016.

Mobile Phones

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish a map of mobile not-spots.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The notspot data is collated and updated annually by Ofcom with information from the Mobile Network Operators. The last report was published in December 2014.The Ofcom provides an interactive map showing coverage of 2G, 3G or 4G services which can be found at http://infrastructure.ofcom.org.uk/

Broadband: Urban Areas

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2015 to Question 225611, on broadband: urban area, how much funding from the SuperConnected Cities budget has been assigned to each city; and how much has been spent (a) in total, (b) on broadband connection vouchers, (c) on free WiFi in public buildings, (d) on advertising and (e) on other items to date in (i) the programme as a whole and (ii) each city.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health

Cardiovascular System: Diseases

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of progress on (a) implementation of the Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy, published in March 2013 and (b) achieving that strategy's aim of increasing the diagnosis rates of familial hypercholesterolemia from 15 per cent to 50 per cent.

Jane Ellison: It is for NHS England, working with Public Health England (PHE) and other stakeholders, to implement the actions set out in the Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy.   Since publication of the Strategy, NHS England has established a working group with PHE and other stakeholders to take action on the key recommendations set out in the Strategy. The group meets quarterly to discuss progress.   Increasing the diagnosis rates of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) from 15% to 50% was not set out as a recommendation or aim in the Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy.   The Strategy recommended that the National Clinical Director for Heart Disease should work with stakeholders to develop and spread good practice in relation to FH and a number of strategic clinical networks are now prioritising FH detection. In addition, NHS England is considering with stakeholders how a FH database could be established.

NHS: Finance

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the value is of projected savings from paperless working included in NHS spending plans for each of the next three years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Information Strategy published in May 2012, ‘The power of information’ estimated that £5 billion worth of benefits can be achieved across health and social care over 10 years.   An independent report from Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) indicated at least £4.4 billion of extra benefits could be utilised by the National Health Service from making better use of Information Technology.   The PWC report can be found at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/study-on-the-impact-of-digital-technology-in-health-and-social-care

Cystic Fibrosis: Greater Manchester

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the existing tariff funding arrangements on Manchester's two specialist cystic fibrosis units following the recent Memorandum of Understanding between Greater Manchester and NHS England for deciding on health and care services for Greater Manchester.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his plans to devolve health and social care provision and expenditure to Greater Manchester, what safeguards will be put in place to protect the national standards for cystic fibrosis care created by the national commissioning of specialised services when that devolution of powers has taken place.

Norman Lamb: This is a historic partnership between local organisations in Greater Manchester, with general practitioners as clinical leaders working with elected leaders to improve services for people living in the area.   The National Health Service bodies involved, including NHS England and the relevant clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), will remain accountable for the exercise of their functions, including the commissioning of specialised services.   During 2015/16 funding arrangements will not change. However from April 2016, CCGs, local authorities and NHS England intend to pool even greater resources to allow integrated, local decision-making. There may be some exceptions to the services and funding streams which are in Scope but this detail is being worked through between the partners.   The fundamental national policies, inspection regimes, guidance and regulations will continue to apply to Greater Manchester but, in line with the Five Year Forward View published by NHS England, Greater Manchester will exercise greater freedom in how they are implemented so that local services better reflect the priorities of local patients and service users.

Health and Social Care Information Centre

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what procedures are in place to prevent the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) transfering NHS data to Wales for storage; whether the HSCIC definition of overseas includes Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) may arrange with other persons or bodies, including persons or bodies based in Wales, to make provision for the storage of information, provided that the HSCIC has a legal basis to collect and store the information, and provided that the holding of the information by those persons or bodies is lawful. Information can be transferred to Wales if there is a legal basis to do so.

Cholesterol

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that cholesterol data is collected and reported by GPs.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Measuring cholesterol is one of the mandated elements of the NHS Health Check, which is offered to individuals between the age of 40 and 74 years once every five years. Under the National Health Service Act 2006 and the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, local authorities have a legal duty to ensure that the specific tests and measures in the check are completed during the risk assessment and that the results are recorded. Where the risk assessment is conducted outside the person’s general practitioner (GP) practice, there is also a legal duty for the information to be forwarded to the person’s GP. The regulations also stipulate that key information relating to the check, including cholesterol levels, is communicated to the person as soon as reasonably practicable after the test has taken place.   Data on the cholesterol of patients with diabetes is collected by GPs through the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicators. Practices receive payments for achievements against QOF indicators.   Following GP contract negotiations, QOF was reduced from April 2014 by more than a third, to release time for GPs to provide more personalised care. Data on the cholesterol of patients with other long term conditions collected from retired QOF indicators continues to be collected and monitored. The removal of these indicators does not mean that GPs should stop monitoring patients’ cholesterol. It is good clinical practice for GPs to discuss this important issue with their patients and offer advice and support.

Community Nurses: Cumbria

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent district nurses there were per head of population in (a) Cumbria, (b) Copeland and (c) Allerdale in each of the last 10 years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: There are now over 7,500 more nurses, midwives and health visitors working in the National Health Service than in May 2010.   Information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is shown in the attached table. 



FTE qualified nurses in North-West SHA & Cumbria 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 26.35 KB)

Brain Cancer: Drugs

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government has taken to improve brain cancer patients' access to cancer drugs.

George Freeman: The Government is committed to ensuring that patients have access to effective treatments, including those for brain cancers, on terms that represent value to the National Health Service and the taxpayer.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for providing advice to the NHS on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of health technologies. NICE has recommended the following drugs for brain cancers as treatment options, subject to certain clinical criteria, in its technology appraisal guidance published in June 2007:   - temozolomide (Temodal) for the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM); and   - carmustine (Gliadel) implants, for the treatment of newly diagnosed high-grade glioma.   NHS commissioners are legally required to fund treatments recommended by NICE technology appraisal guidance.   Where a drug to treat brain cancer is not routinely available on the NHS, patients may be able to access it through the Cancer Drugs Fund. Bevacizumab (Avastin) is available for the third line treatment of low grade paediatric gliomas through the Fund.   We are also commissioning an external review of the pathways for the development, assessment, and adoption of innovative medicines and medical technology. This review will consider how to speed up access for NHS patients to cost-effective new diagnostics, medicines and devices.

Radiotherapy

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications for proton beam therapy the NHS approved in each year since 2010; and what proportion of those applications were for child cancer patients.

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent on proton beam therapy treatment from (a) April to August 2014 and (b) August 2014 to January 2015.

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications for proton beam therapy the NHS declined in each year since 2010; and what proportion of those applications were for child cancer patients.

Jane Ellison: The number of patients who had applications approved for proton beam therapy (PBT) since 2010, including the proportion for children, is shown in the following table.PaediatricTotal approvedProportion for children2009-1082040%2010-11305060%2011-12667984%2012-13839984%2013-1410312483%   The amount spent on PBT treatment from April to August 2014 was £4.87 million. From August 2014 to January 2015 the amount was £4.72 million.   The number of patients who had applications declined for PBT since 2010, including the proportion for children, is shown in the following table.PaediatricTotal declinedProportion for children2009-10102442%2010-1141822%2011-12153938%2012-1372035%2013-14102245%

Dementia: North West

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve the quality and level of care for people with dementia in the North West.

Norman Lamb: Dementia is a key priority for this Government across England and we are committed to ensuring people with dementia and their carers receive the best possible care in all care settings. That is why in 2012 we launched the first ever Prime Minister’s Challenge on dementia to increase diagnosis rates, raise awareness and understanding and double funding for research in dementia by 2015.   Since the launch of the Challenge, we have made significant progress in improving the quality and level of care for people with dementia. These include:   - On 1 April 2014, we have put in place a new Dementia Directed Enhanced Service (DES), which has had over 80% take up by general practitioners (GPs) to reward practices for facilitating timely diagnosis and support for people with dementia. From March 2015, the revised DES will include an offer of a health check for carers and signposting to relevant information, advice and support.   - In the hospital setting, through the Dementia Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) reward (introduced from April 2012), with around 4,000 referrals a month, it is clear that more people with dementia in hospitals are being identified and assessed.   - Over 1 million people in England have had an awareness raising session to become a Dementia Friend, met in February 2015.   Under the 2012-15 Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia, we have also made significant progress in the North West.   - We are creating Dementia Friendly Communities, which will help support those with living with dementia. 14 communities across the North West have signed up to the national Dementia Friendly Communities recognition process. 83,078 Dementia Friends were registered from the North West. There are also currently 23 local Dementia Action Alliances in the North West.   - In the North West, £12,021,593 capital funding for 2013-14 was allocated for the National Health Service and local authorities to work with providers to create better care environments to help people with dementia live well with the condition. The projects are now in the process of being evaluated and we will disseminate the key recommendations in the near future.   - Nationally, the Government’s refreshed Mandate to Health Education England, published on 1 May 2014, set an ambition for 250,000 NHS staff to receive Tier 1 training on dementia to add to the existing 100,000 by March 2015. In the North West, the latest figure on the number of staff that have undergone Tier 1 training on dementia is 56,256 surpassing the regional target of 53,632.   On 21 February 2015, the Prime Minister announced the launch of his new Challenge on Dementia towards 2020. This set out to build on the achievements of the Prime Minister’s challenge on dementia 2012-2015. It aims to identify what needs to be done to make sure that dementia care, support, awareness and research are transformed by 2020 and set key aspirations aimed at improving quality and level of care which include:   - Maintaining our current spend on dementia research of over £60 million a year. We have already doubled research spending from a baseline of £28.2 million in 2009/10.   - GPs playing a leading role in ensuring coordination and continuity of care for people with dementia, as part of the existing commitment that from 1 April 2015 everyone will have access to a named GP with overall responsibility and oversight for their care.   - Every person diagnosed with dementia having meaningful care following their diagnosis, which supports them and those around them, with meaningful care being in accordance with published National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Quality Standards.   - All NHS staff having received training on dementia appropriate to their role. Newly appointed healthcare assistants and social care support workers, including those providing care and support to people with dementia and their carers, having undergone training as part of the national implementation of the Care Certificate.

Brain: Diseases

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will fund research on using a skin test to detect hard-to-spot brain diseases.

George Freeman: The Department's National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including tests for biological markers of brain diseases. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Abortion

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that public funding allocated to licensed independent sector places for the termination of pregnancy is not used to campaign for changes in UK law; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for the contracting of independent sector places to perform termination of pregnancy.

Schools: Nurses

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent school nurses there have been in each of the last five years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The latest National Health Service workforce statistics published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that there are now over 7,500 more nurses, midwives and health visitors, including school nurses, working in the NHS in England compared to May 2010.   The published statistics do not include the numbers of school nurses employed by other sectors, such as local authorities, which since April 2013 have been responsible for public health locally, including commissioning public health services for school aged children.   The attached table shows the number of full-time equivalent school nurses directly employed in the NHS, from September 2003 to November 2014. 



Qualified school nurses employed 2003-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 11.98 KB)

NHS: Innovation

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 25 February 2014, Official Report, column 279W and 28 February 2014, Official Report, column 583W, on NHS: innovation, for what reason NHS England has not published the minutes of the meetings referred to in the Answers; and if he will direct NHS England to publish those minutes.

George Freeman: The remit of patient and public engagement now falls to NHS England’s new Patient and Public Voice Assurance Group which met for the first time in June 2014.   Discussions about the publication of the minutes of the Patient and Public Voice Assurance Group are ongoing.   The Patient and Public Engagement Steering Group is no longer in existence and NHS England has no plans to publish the minutes of the Patient and Public Engagement Steering Group.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2014, Official Report, column 56W, on mental health services, how many mental health services he has visited since June 2014; and what the date was of each such visit.

Dr Daniel Poulter: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his ministerial team have undertaken the following visits to mental health services (including charity visits and community centres) in an official capacity since June 2014 to date: Secretary of State for Health (Mr Jeremy Hunt) 9 October 2014 Manchester Mind- Zion Community Resource Centre   Minister of State (Norman Lamb) 18 August 2014 St Aubyn Centre at North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust 10 September 2014 Broadmoor Hospital 29 September 2014 Southdown Mental Health Recovery Services- Southdown Housing Association 31 October 2014 North Manchester General Hospital 10 December 2014 Maudsley Hospital (SLAM) eating disorder unit 17 December 2014 CYPMH Taskforce- Ortus Learning Centre 9 January 2015 Together Mental Health Wellbeing-Charity 12 January 2015 Dragon Café 14 January 2015 Hammersmith Mental Health Unit   Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Dr Daniel Poulter) 25 February 2015 Cornwall Mental Health and Learning Disability NHS Foundation Trust   Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Earl Howe) 10 September 2014 North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Mental Health Services: North West

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time for mental health talking therapies is in (a) the North West and (b) Warrington.

Norman Lamb: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is shown in the following table. The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) dataset contains information on referrals to IAPT services which provide talking therapies. Information is provided both for Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and for all 33 North West CCGs combined for the year 2013/14.  The number of referrals entering treatment1 in the year, with mean and median waiting times (days), for IAPT2 services in 2013/14. Data shown for NHS Warrington CCG and all North West CCGs combined3.   Organisation nameReferrals4 entering treatmentMean5 waiting time to first treatment appointment (days)Median5 waiting time to first treatment appointment (days)  NHS Warrington CCG3,2504221  All North West CCGs combined94,7755526   Notes:1In order to enter treatment a referral must have a first treatment appointment (an appointment with a therapy type recorded) in the year. 2IAPT services are psychological therapies services commissioned by the NHS through the IAPT programme. 3CCG is based on general practitioner (GP) Practice. Where GP Practice is not recorded, or cannot be assigned to a CCG, the referral is categorised as 'Unknown'. 4This is not distinct people, as a person can have more than one referral. 5Means and medians have been rounded to the nearest whole number.  Waiting time is measured by counting the number of days between a referral being received and the first treatment appointment. For 2013/14, the presence of a valid therapy type is used as an indicator of whether treatment was provided in the course of the appointment.   Entering treatment figures are rounded to the nearest 5, except for England totals.  It is generally advised that the median is used as the more reliable measure of average waiting time, as this accounts better for any outliers in the data  Source: Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Dataset, Health and Social Care Information CentreThe Government has announced the first ever access and waiting standards for mental health services for 2015/16. These standards will include treatment within six weeks for 75% of people referred to IAPT, with 95% of people being treated within 18 weeks.

Diabetes

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of diabetics who are offered structured courses to help them self-manage their diabetes.

Jane Ellison: NHS England’s Action for Diabetes makes it clear that if we are to improve the health outcomes of people living with diabetes, we must improve individuals’ personal management of their condition and empower them to take charge of their own care.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Quality Standard for diabetes sets out that people with diabetes should receive a structured educational programme. NHS England is statutorily required to have regard to this. NHS England aims to use the new indicator in the Quality and Outcomes Framework and the new best practice tariff to promote provision of structured education for those with diabetes.   There are a number of national and locally developed patient education programmes available including Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating (DAFNE) for Type 1 diabetes, and Diabetes Education and Self-management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed (DESMOND) for Type 2 diabetes. A range of tools and guidance to help local services choose the best programmes to meet the needs of their local population is also available, for example the web based Transforming Participation in Health and Care tool.   The proportion of people with diabetes being offered structured education is improving. 16% of people newly diagnosed with diabetes were offered structured education in 2012/13 compared to 8.4% of those diagnosed in 2009. In the same period the number of people newly diagnosed with diabetes offered or attending structured education rose from 11% to 18.4%.   Public Health England, NHS England and Diabetes UK are currently working together to establish a national diabetes prevention programme, making us the first country to implement such a programme at scale, modelled on national and international proven experience.

Dental Services: North West

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent dental surgeons there were per head of population in (a) Warrington and (b) the North-West in each year since 2010.

Dr Daniel Poulter: There are now over 7,500 more nurses, midwives and health visitors working in the National Health Service than in May 2010.   The information is not available in the format requested. Information such as is available is shown in the attached table. 



Dental surgeons FTE in Area Teams in North West
(Word Document, 18.88 KB)

Carers: English Language

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that care workers in the NHS have a sufficient level of English language proficiency to understand and communicate medical terminology.

Dr Daniel Poulter: It is the responsibility of the local National Health Service or care sector employer to carry out any relevant checks to satisfy themselves that any potential employee has the required level of communication skills for their role.

Cervical Cancer

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve cervical screening rates.

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the financial consequences for the NHS of low cervical screening rates.

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of increasing cervical screening rates on (a) prevention and (b) early diagnosis of cervical cancer.

George Freeman: A leaflet sent out with every invitation for cervical screening provides women with clear, honest and balanced information about the benefits and limitations of cervical screening in order to ensure women are able to make an informed decision as to whether to have a cervical screening test or not.   Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer (January 2011) makes clear the important role that cervical screening plays in preventing cervical cancer. The strategy also notes that some groups and communities are not accessing cancer screening services. Public Health England (PHE) is working with NHS England via the Public Health Section 7A agreement to develop a system of performance improvement through the use of performance floors, and strengthened governance for screening. The aims of the performance floors are:   - Improving performance and equity of service over time by reducing the range of variation at a local level. - Enabling easy identification of poor performance and the setting of objectives and plans for local action, to reduce variation and improve performance.   PHE will look at research provided by the STRATEGIC study (Strategies to increase cervical screening uptake at first invitation) to identify methods to help increase uptake among women. The STRATEGIC study will be publishing findings in May 2016, more details of this can be found at:   http://www.nets.nihr.ac.uk/projects/hta/0916401   The cervical cancer screening programme was established on the basis that it would prevent, and lead to the early diagnosis of, cervical cancer reducing the number of premature deaths.[1]   No assessment has been made of the financial consequence to the NHS on the low uptake of cervical screening. However, cost-effectiveness is a key criteria of the UK National Screening Committee recommending whether or not screening for a particular condition should take place. For example, a cost-effectiveness evaluation of the current pilot of human papillomavirus (HPV) testing as primary cervical screening is being undertaken alongside the clinical evaluation of the pilot. Cancer Research UK has estimated that, when fully implemented, HPV testing as primary screening could prevent an additional 600 cancers a year.[2] [1] Peto et al, The cervical cancer epidemic that screening has prevented in the UK, Lancet 2004; 364: 249-56[2] http://msc.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/06/10/0969141313492313

Shingles: Vaccination

Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to ensure the vaccination of eligible people who have not previously accessed the shingles vaccine.

Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the Government plans to make the shingles vaccine available to everyone who requests it in the 70-79 age group.

Jane Ellison: We are committed to delivering the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s (JCVI) recommendation on shingles immunisation. The vaccine is being offered routinely to those aged 70 years and to all those aged 71 to 79 years through a progressive catch-up.   In the first year of the programme, 2013/14, the vaccine was offered to all those aged 70 and 79 years old. In 2014/15 the vaccine was offered to all those aged 70, 78 and 79 years old and in 2015/16, the vaccine will be offered to those aged 70 and 78 years old.   General practitioners may also continue to offer immunisation to all those who have become eligible as 70 year olds from 1 September 2013 but have not yet been immunised.   This progressive programme will ensure that all those JCVI has recommended be vaccinated will be offered the vaccine.

Shingles: Vaccination

Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the shingles vaccination will be included as an indicator in the Public Health Outcomes Framework along with other recommended vaccination programmes.

Jane Ellison: There will be a review of the Public Health Outcomes Framework later in 2015. Any proposal to include shingles vaccination as an indicator will be considered as part of the review process.

Shingles: Vaccination

Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the current shingles vaccination schedule is for 70 to 79 year olds; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended that shingles vaccine should be offered to all those aged 70 – 79 years. The vaccine is being routinely offered to all those aged 70 years and to all those aged 71 to 79 years through a progressive catch-up.   In the first year of the programme, 2013/14, shingles vaccination was offered to patients aged 70 and 79 years old. For 2014/15, we are offering vaccination to patients aged 70, 78 and 79 years old and, for 2015/16, we will offer the vaccine to patients aged 70 and 78 years old.   We are committed to delivering the JCVI’s recommendation in full. Eligibility criteria for immunisation in each year of the programme are informed by the volumes of vaccine that have been contracted and scheduled for delivery in that particular year.

Meningitis: Vaccination

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to expedite giving patients access to the meningitis B vaccine.

Jane Ellison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 February 2015 to Question 222863.

Health: Equality

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of health inequalities on outcomes for (a) people with kidney disease from BAME communities, (b) other people with kidney disease and (c) the general population.

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to prioritise treatments and interventions to tackle health inequalities amongst (a) people with kidney disease from BAME communities and (b) other people with kidney disease.

Jane Ellison: We know that black and south Asian people are three to five times more likely to have kidney failure than white people.   The NHS England is under specific legal duties in relation to tackling health inequalities and advancing equality. Regarding kidney disease, the NHS Health Check programme, a universal programme for everyone between the ages of 40-74 years that launched in 2008, assess people’s risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes. It is estimated that the programme could detect at least 20,000 cases of diabetes or kidney disease earlier, allowing individuals to be better managed and to improve their quality of life.   Local authorities, which are responsible for roll-out of the NHS Health Check in their respective areas, can choose to target high-risk groups, such as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups, to encourage participation in the programme, if appropriate. Guidance and tools for commissioners, clinicians and local authorities on the programme, including case study examples on its application in specific communities, can be found at the following link:   www.healthcheck.nhs.uk   More generally, health and wellbeing boards (HWBs), and the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) process that they oversee, offer valuable opportunities to drive local efforts to reduce inequalities locally, including those in BAME groups. HWBs provide a forum where all commissioners can come together to jointly plan services to meet the needs of local populations. Consideration should be given by HWBs to meeting the Public Sector Equality Duties under the Equality Act 2010 throughout the JSNA process and in the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy that are then produced.

NHS: Finance

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2015 to Question 224944, if he will place in the Library NHS England's monthly data on individual funding requests relating to specialised services.

George Freeman: NHS England has advised that, once its national database is completely up and running and all data from the NHS England regions have been migrated over to it, NHS England will consider the publication of information on individual funding requests relating to specialised services.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England and Monitor on the national tariff options for NHS mental health providers.

Norman Lamb: The Department’s Ministers meet with NHS England and Monitor on a regular basis where they discuss a wide range of issues. I met with Monitor and NHS England specifically about the mental health tariff arrangements in January and May 2014.

Patients: Safety

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of NHS staff have signed up to the five NHS Sign up to Safety pledges.

Dr Daniel Poulter: To date 236 organisations from across the National Health Service in England have signed up to the campaign and made their five pledges on behalf of all of their members of staff. This includes 86% of acute, 68% of community and 54% of mental health providers and 50% of ambulance trusts plus a range of other health related organisations at frontline regional and national level*.   Individuals everywhere are also able to sign up to the campaign and make their own pledges online. Currently we have around 250 individuals who have done this so far from a wide variety of organisation types. The campaign has focused in its first year on engaging organisations and in its second year will focus on individual involvement.   Organisations who have joined the Sign up to Safety community commit to turning their five pledges into a personalised Safety Improvement Plan. These plans are derived from working with their staff on what matters to them and sets out their ambition and focus for the next three years for how their staff will take action to support the NHS shared goal of halving avoidable harm and saving lives.   *Percentage figures derive from publicly available numbers from 2013, accessible on the NHS Confederation’s website.

Social Services: Veterans

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason war pensions and payments made under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme are treated differently when assessing the contributions the claimant must make towards their social care; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: We are in the process of introducing fundamental reforms to how we pay for care and support that will make the system fairer for everyone, including veterans. At the moment, someone who has the highest care needs may risk losing all they have to meet the cost of their care. These reforms will mean that, for the first time ever, everyone will be protected from the risk of catastrophic care costs. The proposals are currently out for consultation and can be found at:   www.careact2016.dh.gov.uk   Personal injury compensation paid to veterans and civilians has always been fully disregarded provided the money is placed in a Trust. The War Pensions Scheme, which is available to those injured prior to April 2005, provides a range of allowances some of which were designed to pay for ongoing care costs and that is why these payments have been taken into account under the care and support charging rules. The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, introduced for those injured from April 2005, operates differently. Officials in the Department of Health are working with the Royal British Legion to review this issue and assess how the rules could be aligned in future to ensure fair treatment of veterans under both of these schemes.